A Level Psychology OCR Practice Exam

What aspect of participants' capabilities was a concern when interpreting the results of Sperry et al (1968)?

1. Their cognitive abilities were unaffected by surgery

2. Their physical health was a major concern

3. Their previous medical history influenced results

4. They had limited communication skills

The correct answer is: Their previous medical history influenced results

The concern regarding participants' capabilities in the study by Sperry et al. (1968) relates to their limited communication skills. This is significant because the study involved patients who had undergone a surgical procedure known as a corpus callosotomy, which effectively severed the connections between the two hemispheres of the brain. As a result, these individuals often experienced difficulties in verbalizing thoughts or responses based on information processed by the hemisphere that was not as dominant in language—typically the left hemisphere. These communication limitations posed challenges in interpreting how well participants could convey their understanding and responses to tasks involving visual and tactile stimuli, particularly when these stimuli were presented to one hemisphere only. In other words, researchers had to consider that a participant might be processing information internally yet unable to express their understanding verbally, which raises questions about the validity and clarity of the results they gathered from their experiments. This factor is critical for accurately assessing the functional capabilities of each hemisphere and interpreting the implications of the findings.