Phineas Gage:
Progress Check
Question one:
The case study of Phineas gage tells us that injuries to the brain
can affect us in all different ways, as after the rod had got impaled
into his brain he was still walking and talking, which you wouldn’t
expect. However, the injury to Phineas gages brain affected the
ventromedial region of both frontal lobes, which caused a defect
in his rational decision making and the processing of his emotions,
which caused him to have a change in personality.
Question two:
There are several problems with the case study evidence of
Phineas gage, these are:
There are two physicians which examined him and published
their findings, which are Harlow in 1848, Bigelow in 1850 and
Harlow again in 1868.
He died in 1860 which means when J.B.S Jackson did his
research 10 years later, he just added stuff on which he was
told by Phineas gages family and friends
Question Three:
We should not conduct larger scale studies like this as we don’t
have personal experience of what they were like before, so can
only rely on friends and family which may not tell the full truth and
also, we are only testing people who have suffered a brain injury
or at autopsy.
Progress Check
Question one:
The case study of Phineas gage tells us that injuries to the brain
can affect us in all different ways, as after the rod had got impaled
into his brain he was still walking and talking, which you wouldn’t
expect. However, the injury to Phineas gages brain affected the
ventromedial region of both frontal lobes, which caused a defect
in his rational decision making and the processing of his emotions,
which caused him to have a change in personality.
Question two:
There are several problems with the case study evidence of
Phineas gage, these are:
There are two physicians which examined him and published
their findings, which are Harlow in 1848, Bigelow in 1850 and
Harlow again in 1868.
He died in 1860 which means when J.B.S Jackson did his
research 10 years later, he just added stuff on which he was
told by Phineas gages family and friends
Question Three:
We should not conduct larger scale studies like this as we don’t
have personal experience of what they were like before, so can
only rely on friends and family which may not tell the full truth and
also, we are only testing people who have suffered a brain injury
or at autopsy.
