User:Mjthibault/sandbox

Introduction

The McGill Picture Anomalies Test is a scientific test, created by Donald O. Hebb and N.W. Norton, that assists in testing visual intelligence as well as understanding human behavior. It involves a series of pictures in which a typical situation is shown, but with something out of place. The test is used to measure a cultural comprehension which allows for a basis to then estimate an individual's intelligence. However, this test alone is not enough to accurately give a single score or representation of a person's overall intelligence.

Background

Hebb applied for a job with Wilder Penfield, the founder of the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) where he, once hired, would study the psychological effects of brain operations. His research included observing the different cognitive impairments that resulted from lesions of various areas of the brain. He also conducted similar experiments in rats. After reviewing his observations, Hebb wanted to look for specific aspects of intelligence that were affected by a brain lesion. He wanted to look at these specific changes instead of attempting to measure an overall intellectual change. In Hebb's looking into specific aspects of intelligence affected by a brain lesion, he was lead to the creation of both the verbal Comprehension Test as well as the non-verbal Picture Anomaly Test which he developed alongside with N.W. Morton.

The test was not created to be used alone. It was intended to be used alongside the verbal Comprehension Test in order to get a more accurate prediction on human intelligence. Hebb and Morton had created these tests with hopes that they would provide a diagnostic value. In other terms, they were hoping the results of the tests would help form a diagnosis. The McGill Picture Anomalies test is not meant to be used across a variety of populations due to the face that the social norms of varied populations can be tremendously different, causing the results of the test to be indeterminate .

Running the Test

The McGill picture anomaly test is non-verbal and requires the subject to simply point out the aspect of the photo that is out of place. The person running the experiment usually tries to provide minimal instructions on how to conduct the test in order to eliminate as much verbal communication as possible. Any remarks made by the participant during testing are ignored and do not contribute to the participant's overall score. Each series of the McGill picture anomaly test comprises 34 pictures. An example of the pictures that may be included in the test would be if the picture had a group of people dressed in nice evening wear, but one person is wearing a hula girl outfit. In this picture, the absurdity would clearly be the hula girl, however, subjects with damage to the right temporal lobe may not be able to recognize this absurdity. Another example may include a photo of two men out hunting in the woods and one of the men is holding his gun aimed at himself instead of at the deer. To people with normally functioning temporal lobes, the absurdity in this picture appears obvious, but for someone with temporal lobe damage it may not be so clear.The McGill picture anomaly test combined with the McGill verbal situation series compose the McGill Adult Comprehension Examination which is used to measure adult intelligence.

Right Temporal Lobe

The Temoral Lobes are significant parts of the brain involved in the visual system which is why they are often referred to in relation to the McGill picture anomaly test. More specifically, the right temporal lobe is responsible for visual recognition while the left is involved in the production and comprehension of language. The different functions of each lobe account for the "disturbance of non-language capacities" experienced after the removal of the right temporal lobe. The test is often used in experiments involving patients diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy because of the damage in their temporal lobe(s). It has also been shown in a study that the recognition of picture absurdities, such as those shown in the MPAT, was significantly lower in a group of patients with dementia of Alzheimer type.

Illnesses where the McGill Picture Anomaly Test may be used

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy is often mentioned in reference to the McGill Picture Anomaly test because of the role the right temporal lobe plays in visual recognition.

Dementia of alzheimer type...

Autism ..

...tried to gather enough information on various illnesses that the McGill Picture Anomaly test may be used in reference to. I ended up not finding enough information on them that entirely relates them to our test.

Section 3

• Link to an external page Middlebury College web site
• Link to an internal (wikipedia) page Middlebury College on Wikipedia