Daniel et al

• aim?

  investigate activity in prefrontal cortices of people with schizophrenia
• done as experiment using SPECT scan of brain
• sample?

  10 in patients from mental health research wards in USA
• IV?

  whether ppt had been given amphetamine or not
• DV?

  how they performed a cognitive task
• CVs?

  * making sure all ppt's symptoms were stabilised through use of drugs

  * making sure no ppts were ill

  * making sure no ppts were using drugs or alcohol
• ppts did a control task (sensori motor task) with the cognitive task
• experimental design?

  repeated measures, so ppts tested with and without amphetamine on 2 different days

  * half tested first with drug and half with placebo, then switched over
• study found?

  * significant differences when ppts were doing cognitive task but not when doing sensori motor task

  * amphetamine slightly increased prefrontal cortex activity during cognitive task despite reducing blood flow in the brain

  * supported idea of dopamine playing part in enhancing cortical activity as amphetamine stimulates dopamine activity
• criticisms?

  * sample was too small to be representative

  * task that ppts did was too artificial to relate to real life

  * drug used to stabilise symptoms could've been an extraneous variable

  * findings can be seen as outdated

  * ethical concerns about using scanning equipment for research only as it's potentially dangerous
• year?

  1991