Nnennaya Aliche

12/1/2021
PSYC 001-04 | Lab Assignment 6 - Memories

Case Study 1
Aversive Classical Conditioning in Amnesia Patients

Research Question: Does Aversive Classical conditioning occur in patients with no short-
term memory?
Independent Variable: color of circle
Dependent Variable: Reaction of amnesia participant
Experiment: The participant will be able to choose different colored circles on a screen.
Whenever the participant chooses the yellow circle a startling buzzer sound will go off. I
will be testing to see whether the patient avoids touching the yellow circle the next 10
minutes (or however long loss of memory occurs).
Hypothesis: I hypothesize that there is a possibility the participants will be able to be
conditioned into remembering which color circle to avoid.

Case Study 2
Improvement of Human memory to achieve Savant-like abilities

Research Question: Can human memory be improved to achieve savant-like abilities

without trauma or injury to the brain?
Independent variable: The diets of the participants
Dependent variable: the accuracy of memory in the participants
Experiment: I will be manipulating the participants diets to a ‘brain-boosting diet’ that
will contain more omega-3 rich food and fruits and vegetables. Participants will also
limit alcohol consumption and consume more green tea. I will be testing the participant
 on month 1,2, and 3; studying and recording their memory of their description of dates
given to the participant. Do the events change with time?
Hypothesis: I hypothesize that memory of events will increase due to the diet change
and recollection of dates will be more and more descriptive each test.

Case Study 3
Reliability Study on Patients with HSAM

Research Question: Is HSAM naturally talented in long-term memory or can it increase

in performance through practice and repetition?
Independent Variable: The amount of times memories are recalled from certain years
Dependent Variable: The participant’s responses
Experiment: To test the reliability of the participants memory, I will be doing a series of
questions asking to detail the events of a randomized day and year. The responses will
be recorded an hour apart and repeated with a different date a month later, and 2
months later as well. I will be recording how much more detailed responses come and if
there are changes or inconsistencies with responses as well.
Hypothesis: I hypothesize that there will be some inconsistencies in some responses.
Memory can be very advanced, but it is still memory at the end of the day and cannot
be perfect.