The Multi Store Model of Memory study: Kopelman & Kapur (2008)

To report on the case of a man called Clive Wearing who suffered from a severe and very rare case of both anterograde + retrograde amnesia. They recorded neurophysiological assessments of Clives brain

Clive Wearing (referred to as CW) was born in the uk in 1938. A gifted music scholar who is the leader of the London Sinfonietta

A longitudinal single case study covering 21 years was used gathering quantitive and qualititive data. Cons of this- Demand characteristics, less professional, bias, debrief and attrition effect

IQ tests

Verbal Fluency tests

Digit span test

MRI scans

1985- Clive had flu which developed to HSVE(Herpes simple viral encephalitis). He had issues with his episodic memory and with his Semantic memory. He became unable to recall or create memories. His verbal performance was average. The STM was found normal but the LTM was severley impaired. 

1990-Developed auditory hallucuinations and began to hear his own music.

1991-First MRI scan -- Issues in the Hippocampus, Amygdala and Frontal Cortex

By 2006- Nothing changed, all damage was done to left hemisphere. 

• Severe brain abnormalities
• Decreased performance and verbal IQ classed as normal as he was exceptionally talented before.
• Delusions-false belief-no memory problem- wasnt full conscious

Sense of self disrupted memory

HSVE can cause brain damage

Supports Multi Store Model as LTM and STM have seperate stores

Unable to use rehearsal to transfer to LTM

CW was repeatedly tested over 21 years, which may have caused him psychological distress. Authors state that CW was given neuropsychological tests and didnt know what he was actually consenting to. 

Confidentiality was not mantained

His identity was not kept private and too nuch was stated, he was identified

The tests that Wilson et al describe were not designed to help CW or to find ways to help him. They simply used him to repeatedly test memory ability.

The sample size was too small to be able to generalise and CWs case was unusual and unique