Question

In psychology, why would it be necessary (or encouraged) to look at original or classical papers and reports and not just rely on later research, especially regarding on a 2000 paper by Macmillian about Phinneas Gage; what good or bad about Macmillian's article? Please provide a few reasons.

Answer 1

In Psychology, and especially in neuropsychology, today we have many advanced technologies like neuroimaging, PET, MRI etc by which we can understand our mind. But still as students of this field, we must study the classics, like the case of Phineas Gage.

The article by Macmilian is well received and appreciated because, he not only describes the incident but also does an in-depth study on Gage's family, personal life, his work etc. But the biggest contribution of the article is that, Macmilian revealed how many contemporary reports and authors have misrepresented the incident and have sensationalized it into popular fiction. He tries to show how we must use this case study for pure scientific purposes so that its contribution to the modern field of neuroscience can be appreciated and understood.

Also we must study the classic cases because they help us understand how things have evolved, how the ancient thinkers used eliminations and strategies to come up with conclusions. These broaden our knowledge base and we can learn a lot. Also, many of the issues are still very relevant today.