Naturalistic Observation
Fancy term - its exactly what it sounds like You observe whatever you are observing in their natural environment Anybody heard of Jane Goodall? I wanna know who cleans their plate from the cafeteria food I do not need to bother you i can just sit and watch at the trash can
Case Study
Usually just one person - study that person in depth to learn more and form a hypothesis that can be tested later with a bigger group
sometimes it works sometimes not so much
can be a small group of people that share a particular trait
his grandmother had a rare form of cancer and was in a case study at duke in a group
usually just one person though
Longitudinal Study
Take one group, Study them for a long time. Expensive, takes time. Marshmallow test.
Took a bunch of four year olds and put a marshmallow in front of them and told them they get 2 marshmallows if they wait 10 minutes
^ studied the group over long period of time, found that group that could wait 10 minutes stayed in school longer had better grades went to college got jobs at a higher rate than the ones who ate it immediately. Delayed gratification.
Cross Sectional Study
Take a group of people at the same time across sections.
What happens is if 30% of the american population is between 5 and 8 then 30% of our subjects should be between 5 and 8. It’s accurate representation of the group that you’re studying
Experiment
Come up with hypothesis ( if something then something ) test it ( control group, experimental group ) independent variable is manipulated, dependant variable is measured.
Henry
A childhood fall has damaged his brain irreperably He has severe Epilepsy by his late 20s hes having over 10 fits a day He can’t llive alone, can’t drive, the fits can take him at any time.
Dr. William is an authority on brain disorders He has tried every drug but nothing works on henry in the 1950s brain science was barely even a thing - they knew almost nothing William decided it was possible that he could operate on the hippocampus and remove it so that the epilepsy would stop
Removing hippocampus would remove seizures Scoville was willing to perform the surgery because the patient was in such incredible distress
Despite his uncertainy henry agrees to the surgery Dr. Scoville removes henry’s entire hippocampus
In all new surgical procedures there is an element of risk. After a few days the signs are good
Henry’s Epilepsy is cured Less hippocampus = fewer seizures
Henry’s operation did a bit more than effect his epilepsy Henry’s memories up to the operation are largely undamaged He can remember his vacation from years ago he cannot remember yesterday he cannot create new memories.
He is a tragic victim and a scientific miracle.
we can experiment on the brains of mice all we want but mice cant tell us what they are thinking and feeling. Henry was a godsend for brain researchers.
His condition transformed our understanding of memory
our immediate moment to moment impressions of the world are recorded in short term memory - to remain there they must be returned to long term memory.
We know now thanks to henry that the hippocampus is crucial in converting short term memories to long term memories. The hippocampus does not store the memories but it is crucial in creating them.
For William Scoville - this was bittersweet. He destroyed Henry’s life.
He practiced drawing a star through a mirror
he cant remember practicing
but he keeps getting better
2 types of memory - Procedural, and Declaritive. Declaritive - things you’ve said to people things they’ve said to you, places you’ve been
Procedural - Riding a bike, Driving a car, etc.
From henry, we learned about the importance of Procedural and Declaritive memory and their relevance to dementia and similar brain diseases
He remembers his 27th birthday, but not his 50th or even his 70th. The truth has to be hidden from him, his 27 years of memory are trapped in an old mans body.
Henry died on the 2nd December 2008 of Respiratory failure. He was 82 years old. In 2009 his brain was sliced and scanned onto computer as the first exhibit in the new Brain Observatory at the University of San Diego.