Post by ambercyw on Sept 20, 2017 23:01:54 GMT
The idea that psychological functions might be localized in the brain means that different physical sections in the brain may account for different thoughts, behaviours, abilities, etc. For example, the prefrontal cortex has been linked to being organized and efficient. Researchers have found different types of evidence for this theory.
Lashley:
- Wanted to test whether Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning involves the strengthening of physical connections between parts of the brain
- Trained rats on certain tasks such as mazes then made cuts in their cerebral cortex to sever connections
- Found that there was no relation between the rat's performance and the localization of the cuts but there was a relation between the size of the amount of cortex removed and impaired performance
- This goes against the theory of localized functions in the brain
Penfield:
- Found that when he electrically stimulated different parts of the cerebral cortex, specific memories in the patients were evoked
- This provides evidence that maybe different memories are localized to specific sections of the brain
- However, later evidence proved that this was not so and specific memories are not associated with specific neurons or molecules in the brain
McConnell:
- Did experiments following the hypothesis that memories may be stored in specific RNA
- Taught flatworms to respond a certain way and then grinded them up and fed them to other flatworms to see if this transfer of RNA would cause the "cannibal flatworms" to acquire this learned response without being taught
- This was not true and proved that memories were not localized in the brain
Lashley:
- Wanted to test whether Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning involves the strengthening of physical connections between parts of the brain
- Trained rats on certain tasks such as mazes then made cuts in their cerebral cortex to sever connections
- Found that there was no relation between the rat's performance and the localization of the cuts but there was a relation between the size of the amount of cortex removed and impaired performance
- This goes against the theory of localized functions in the brain
Penfield:
- Found that when he electrically stimulated different parts of the cerebral cortex, specific memories in the patients were evoked
- This provides evidence that maybe different memories are localized to specific sections of the brain
- However, later evidence proved that this was not so and specific memories are not associated with specific neurons or molecules in the brain
McConnell:
- Did experiments following the hypothesis that memories may be stored in specific RNA
- Taught flatworms to respond a certain way and then grinded them up and fed them to other flatworms to see if this transfer of RNA would cause the "cannibal flatworms" to acquire this learned response without being taught
- This was not true and proved that memories were not localized in the brain