biopsych- Hemispheric lateralisation and split brain research

Question 1

define hemispheric lateralisation

Answer 1

Hemispheric lateralisation suggests there’s two halves of the brain that function differently, so each hem has specialised functions
e.g. left hem is dominant for language and right hem is dominant for visual-MOTOR tasks

Question 2

information for the right-hand visual field, which hemisphere processes this

Answer 2

the left hemisphere processes the RVF
left hem is dominant in language

Question 3

information for the left-hand visual field, which hemisphere processes this

Answer 3

the right hemisphere processes the LVF
right hem is dominant in visual motor tasks

Question 4

what is the name of the nerve fibres that facilitate inter-hemispheric communication

Answer 4

Corpus Callosum

Question 5

name the research who did a study on split brain patients

Answer 5

Sperry
in 1967 with gazzaniga

Question 6

what did the split brain patients undergo

Answer 6

commissurotomy

Question 7

what was the aim of sperrys research

Answer 7

sperry wanted to examine the extent to which
the two hemispheres are specialised for certain functions

Question 8

how many split brain patients were their in sperry’s research and what is the background of what split brain patients have to go through

Answer 8

11 split brain patients
Split brain patients have undergone the surgical procedure commissurotomy where the corpus callosum, that connects the two hemispheres, is severed. This separates the two hemispheres in the brain in order to treat their intense epilepsy

Question 9

explain the procedure of Sperry’s research

Answer 9

Sperry’s procedure for his research was to present a word or image to e.g. their LVF which is processed by the right hemisphere. When this information is presented to one hemisphere, the information in the split brain patients brain is not transferred to the other hemispshere because the corpus callosum was cut.
then talk abt 1 or 2 of the different experiments sperry did

Question 10

name the three different experiments, sperry got the patients to do

Answer 10

-describe what you see
- tactile test
-drawing test

Question 11

explain the describe what you see tasks and what the findings were

Answer 11

DESCRIBE what you see test
- a picture was presented either their LVF or RVF and ppt had to describe what they saw
findings
-when LVF was presented with a picture, this information is processed by the right hem which is dominant with visual motor tasks, this meant that they said could not describe the picture and said their was no picture
-when the picture was presented to the RVF, this information is processed by the left hem which is dominant in language, this led to the patients correctly identified the picture

Question 12

explain the tactile tests and what the findings were

Answer 12

This motor task is when a object is placed into one hand and they feel it and have to describe what they felt and make guesses of what it was
findings-
- object in left hand
couldn’t describe it as it is processed by right hem but could select similar objects from a range of objects because right hem dominants in visual motor tasks
- object in right hand
could verbally describe what they felt because left hem processed it and it is dominant in language
could also select similar objects from a range too

Question 13

explain the drawing test and what the findings were

Answer 13

a picture is presented to either LVF or RVF and was asked to draw with either left or right hand the picture they saw
findings-
- picture being drawn by the left hand was processed by right hem, could consistently draw clear and better pictures than the right hand, even though all 11 were dominantly right handed, this shows the superiority of the right hem for visual memory
- picture drawn from right hand was not clear due to it being processed my the left hem which is dominant for language and not visual motor tasks.

Question 14

write the proper 4 peel for evaluating hem lateralisation

anyway, what are the 3 strength phrases used for sperry’s research into hemispheric lateralisation

Answer 14

-standardised procedure
- highly scientific, lab experiment thats highly controlled
- replicable

Question 15

write the proper 4 peel for evaluating hem lateralisation

anyway, what are 4 weaknesses of sperry’s research into hem lateralisation

Answer 15

• Lacks mundane realism due to the 3 tasks asked to complete as this is artificial especially seeing the picture on computer for 0.1 sec and wouldn’t occur in the real world
• lacks ecological validity due to the sample being 11 and male right handed, this means it cant be generalised to wider society who has an in contact brain
• extraneous variables e.g. mediacation amount each patient was on , leading to different outcomes of tasks
• individual differences- lack of eyesight, left dominant hand