Post mortem exams

• Point 1 --> they allow for a more detailed examination of the brain than would be possible with non-invasive scanning methods
• Evidence 1 -->  it enables researchers to examine deeper regions of the brain such as the hypothalamus
• Explain 1 --> it allows psychologists to gain a deeper understanding of the role of the brain in human development, behaviour and abnormality
• Link 1 --> post mortems can be considered highly useful
• Point 2 --> they have played a central role in developing understanding of the brain
• Evidence 2 -->Broca did a post mortem on Patient Tan and discovered a lesion on an area now known as Broca’s area that plays a role in speech production
• Explain 2 --> Before neuroimaging was available, post mortems were the only way to study the brain to see what role parts play in human behaviour
• Link 2 --> post mortems can be considered highly useful
• Point 3 --> they can sometimes lack validity
• Evidence 3 -->  the length of time between death and the post mortem exam, drug treatments and age of death are all confounding variables that can affect differences found between the case and controls
• Explain 3 -->  findings from post mortem exams may lack internal validity
• Link 3 --> post mortem exams can lack validity
• Point 4 --> they do not measure neural activity as the person is deceased
• Evidence 4 --> researcher is unable to monitor brain function in real time, instead having to draw conclusions about possible relationships between damage and cognitive functioning
• Explain 4 --> means that conclusions drawn are often limited as the researchers cannot follow up any findings to draw more valid conclusions
• Link 4 --> post mortems can be limited in what they tell us about brain function