def extract_category_information(category_tuples, element):
    """
    Returns a list of category strings or counts extracted from the tuples in the input list.
    :param category_tuples: list of tuples in the form of (name, count)
    :param element: 0 for labels and 1 for counts
    :return: list of strings representing the category names
    """

    if element > 1 or element < 0:
        print("Invalid element value provided to extract category information.")
        return None

    return [category[element] for category in category_tuples]