Phineas Gage - Should I use that case study?

[IBwanting2survive]

Hey guys, I've heard that the IB isn't fond of students using the case study of Phineas Gage. Is this true? I was planning to use it for the biological level of analysis specifically theses learning outcomes:

Outline principles that define the biological level of analysis.

Explain how principles that define the biological level of analysis may be demonstrated in research.

So, should I or should I stay away from that case study? Same goes for HM and Clive Wearing - should I use those case studies?

[citizenoftheuniverse]

Assuming you know it well and not just in a vague sense, go for it! They can't penalize you for using any specific study. However, with a more widely known study, examiners are more likely to notice if you make a mistake, and they have probably seen a lot of papers exactly like yours etc.

Many students probably use Phineas Gage when they don't know the learning outcome and thus must B.S. their response, thus writing a bad response and making other kids who use the study look bad. However, if you know it really well, you should score as well as when using another less overused study.

[IBwanting2survive]

ok that's a relief because it really is a good study plus I would be using other studies as well so it will be accompanied by other evidence Thanks!

[dniviE]

Use HM instead of Phineas Cage. While as Phineas Cage is widely known, the records on him are not verified nor reliable. In contrast, the case study of HM and his amnesia is very valid, verified and very widely known within the field of psychology.

[IBwanting2survive]

Use HM instead of Phineas Cage. While as Phineas Cage is widely known, the records on him are not verified nor reliable. In contrast, the case study of HM and his amnesia is very valid, verified and very widely known within the field of psychology.

well, what if I use both? And could they really take points off for using it? Does it say anywhere that we absolutely can not use this study? Do you know anyone that used Phineas gage as a study and was marked down?

[dniviE]

@IBwanting2survive: I do not know any one that has been marked down because I do not know anyone who actually did IB Psychology. It is also not easy to know why someone got marked down on an exam as there might be many other reasons for losing marks. I study psychology at university and from what I know the case of Phineas Cage can be used as an example, but it is such an old case that do not have any clear records or clear findings to it. That is why I believe you would be better off using HM as a case study as this case is 1) recent, and 2) is widely studied and known.

[trishreddy]

Adding to that, I know that Phineas Gage is really easy to write because it's quite simple... but as mentioned before, it is an old study so it would not be as reliable. If you are using Gage for LOF - an AMAZING study which scores really well and is relatively easy to write is Raine.

• Hypothesis: That serious violent individuals have localised brain damage in the pre-frontal cortex.
• Aim: To test the theory of localisation of function (the idea that different parts of the brain do different things)
• Methodology: Natural experiment

• IV: whether the participant had committed a murder or not.
• DV: results of PET scan.

• Procedure: the study scanned brains of 41 people - 39 males, 2 females who pleaded NGRI (Not guilty by reason of insanity) as well as 41 controls. All NGRI's were referred to the imaging centre for legal reasons, such as to obtain evidence for defense. Reasons for referral included Schizophrenia (6 cases), head injury/organic damage (23 cases), drug abuse (3), affective disorder (2), epilepsy (2), hyperactivity or learning difficulties (3) and personality disorder (2). Controls were matched as closely as possible to the NGRI's (same sex/age/handedness/ethnicity/mental diseases). Mean age of NGRI's were 34.5. Controls were also scanned for mental and physical health. Everyone was kept medication free for two weeks before the brain scan. Patients were injected with a tracer before performing a variety of continuous activities that were aimed to exercise the frontal lobe (planning of future action and movement), the right temperal (hearing and aspects of learning, memory and emotion) lobe and the paretial lobe (tactile sensation and body image).this happened for 32 minutes before the PET scans occurred. NGRI's were compared with controls --> Level of brain activity (through glucose metabolism) in 14 areas across left and right hemisphere.

• Findings/Results: NGRI's had 11% less grey matter in prefrontal cortex. There was lower activity in cortial/subcortial (cerebral cortex) areas. The left hemisphere was less active than the right hemisphere and there was more activity in the occipital lobe (controls vision). Thus, data is correlational. Evidence to support that violence can be localised in the prefrontal lobe.

[IBwanting2survive]

wow that's great, thanks! I think Ill try to substitute Gage studies with other ones... I might mention it just for fun but Ill stick to more recent studies for actual evidence.