Miracle Pill Experiment

The study to determine the effect of a new “miracle” drug that can temporarily inactivate areas of the brain is an experimental study. An experimental study is a controlled experiment in which the researcher has control over one variable, called the independent variable. The researcher then manipulates the independent variable and studies how that affects the variable he is measuring, called the dependent variable. Because this experiment includes the study of how the independent variable, in this case the “miracle” drug, affects the dependent variable, in this case the effect on different areas of the brain, it is an experimental study. It is not considered a correlation study because that is defined as the experiment in which the researcher …show more content…
Some other differences are that the experimental study is stronger because the relationship between the independent and dependent variable is isolated, while in the correlational study there might be other influences on the variables making the measuring of the relationship harder. Additionally, an experimental study is much more expensive and more difficult to conduct than a correlational …show more content…
The researchers used a control group which received a sugar pill in order to compare it to an experimental group to see if the treatment had any effect at all, and if it did, how and what areas of the brain did it affect. In this case, if the “miracle” drug targeted the frontal lobe some possible consequences would be problems with motor functions, issues with problem solving skills, issues with memory and language, and changes in emotional control that could cause impulsive and rash behavior. If the drug only affected the occipital lobe it would cause the loss of visual capability, loss of ability to identify colors, and it could cause hallucinations. If the effect was really strong it could result in sever vision loss or even complete blindness. In the case of the drug targeting only the left motor cortex, the loss of control over the muscles and the inability of doing everyday things like dressing yourself, would be the most likely consequence. Some other consequences that would be a possible result of the “miracle” drug are hearing loss and inability to speak. If this was the case, hearing loss would mean that the subject’s temporal lobe was damaged because that is where the auditory cortex is. And if the subject was incapable of speaking that would mean that the drug affected the left frontal lobe or more precisely, the Broca’s area. In conclusion, even though this