Phineas Gage Case Study

Words: 602

Pages: 3

Open Document

Phineas Gage, 25-year-old male with apparent head injury. Gage is a railroad worker and as he was packing an explosive it detonated and the tamping iron backfired. The iron which was 43 inches long, 1.25 inches thick penetrated Gage’s left cheek through his brain and exited out his skull landing a few feet away from the explosion. This accident left Gage blinded in one eye and everyone started to notice a change in who he was after the injury.

Gage began to show the classic signs of someone who has a frontal lobe injury. He was not this easy going quiet person anymore, he begins to use foul language much more. He could not multi-task and he was not wanted around because of his changed personality, his old job at the railroad ended up firing him because of his behaviors. Soon after, Phineas starts to have problems with drinking and coping with the injury as well seizures which all have happened because of the accident.

Psychoeducation …show more content…
The frontal lobe is one of the last parts of the brain to fully develop so with consistent and constant exercise for brain functioning Gage will regain some of those functioning features.

Long term goals:
Develop Trust with Gage
Understand Gage’s Behavior
Recognize and Respond to the precursors of the maladaptive behavior.
Decrease Maladaptive Behaviors

Short term goals:
Psychological evaluation
Treat Gage with love and give him him honest, caring and consistent interactions each time we meet.
Make no promises, just be consistent in treatment.
Build a relationship
Identify triggers
Know when to reinforce and not reinforce behavior
Identity non-verbal and verbal signs of behavior
Include family in treatment
Teach Gage coping skills for current stressors
Discourage any negative talk and reward positive talk
Improve self-esteem about appearance.
Encourage social activities
Cognitive Training

The Man Who Died and Lived Essay

that away; however, that belief is nothing more than a false notion. I can say this with such confidence due to a case study of a man during the year of 1848. It was about a man who went through a life changing and gruesome injury. Phineas Gage was that man and he influenced theories and discoveries about the brain being responsible for a person’s personality to transpire. Phineas Gage is famous for many reasons that are deemed important to understand. Before understanding why he is famous, what exactly…

Words 1169 - Pages 5

Phineas Gage Essay

Phineas Gage Phineas Gage Before the accident of Phineas Gage, the science world had very little understanding of the brain. A few doctors had tried to link the brain to cognitive functions but were met with very little support for their ideas. This is most likely because they had little to no proof of their assumptions. After Gage’s accident, people began to realize that the brain had far more power and ability than originally expected and from then on, was studied in…

Words 900 - Pages 4

Brain Trauma In The Case Of Phineas Gage

The case of Phineas Gage has taught me that brain trauma is very serious threat to the human race, in that modern technology has shown that certain aspects of trauma on the brain can dramatically effect the actions and livelihood of the individual in ways that the common person would not except. I now know and believe that this is a field that needs more research and more studies to be able to provide an accurate diagnosis of the situation and make the changes, as well as, treatment to function in…

Words 185 - Pages 1

Phineas Gage response Essay

Phineas Gage September 13, 1848 marked the day that Phineas Gage, a twenty –six year old foreman of a railroad construction outfit, experienced a horrific accident that not only changed his life forever but impacted man’s scientific understanding of the brain, both then and today. In Cavendish, Vermont, Phineas’ job was to blast solid rock into pieces small enough for his crew to dislodge and haul away. Necessary to conduct his job was a special tool, called a tampering iron. His custom-made…

Words 1097 - Pages 5

Robert Sapolsky Rhetorical Analysis

There is not one specific condition that makes us behave a certain way, instead it is a combination of several elements. Robert Sapolsky explores in depth what the causes and effects of the variables that make up who we are. Most of our mannerisms are rooted in our ethnicity, the culture we grew up in, society, where we spent most of our lives, and our susceptibility and exposure to certain behaviors. Though these are all important, they do not solely determine our predispositions to certain…

Words 671 - Pages 3

Research Method Essay

Each research method studies and test different situation. Psychologists tasks are to make prediction about the situation that gave rise to them and then use that information to predict and where possible control future events. The focus of this paper is to define and evaluate research method and outline advantages and limitations, the research method that will be discuss are; case study, experiment, survey and observation. Case study is an in-depth study of a single case or a few people rather…

Words 972 - Pages 4

Nature Vs Nurture

population can be accounted for by genes. Heritability is what is found to make up a lot of one's personality. One of the very first cases documented that linked genetics and personality was in 1858 with a man named Phineas Gage. He worked as a blasting foreman for a railroad company, and due to a faulty blast, a railroad spike was blown through his head. Somehow, Phineas Gage survived this atrocious accident. The railroad spike went through his frontal lobe in his brain, and he started to experience many…

Words 1169 - Pages 5

Essay on Localization of Brain Function

localization is the case of Phineas Gage; a railway worker in 1848, who one day, while trying to blow out a hole in the side of a mountain, had a metal rod shoot…

Words 964 - Pages 4

Ernst Lanzer's Obsessive-Compulsive Neurosis

Key approaches studies Psychodynamic approach The ‘Rat Man’ Aim: Investigate the underlying cause of Ernst Lanzer’s obsessive-compulsive neurosis. Method: Freud saw Rat Man for about a year; he stated that he had obsessive and fearful thoughts about rats and that these thoughts resulted in obsessive behaviours. The origins of these obsessive thoughts of rats seemed to come from his military training. He had a particularly nasty torture where rats were placed in a bucket, which was then tied to…

Words 2493 - Pages 10

Self-esteem Essay

truth is to do studies, make falseafiable Clinical -Case study- qualitative research In depth elaboration of various facets of a persons life to try to understand them -Genie (1970) -chained to toilet, became case study of language is invaded in us, vould she be socialized to interact with other people -research was generated, important concept was idea of critical peropds of development f you dont have thoes things you will not develop noromally Phineas Gage -famous from…

Words 837 - Pages 4