Lesson 8 - Split brain research Flashcards
What is split brain research used for ?
To study brain lateralisation as it shows what functions
are dominant for which hemisphere
Where does information from the left visual field go?
It goes into the right hemisphere. Vice-Versa
What was Sperry and Gazzanigas aim?
Examine extent to which hemispheres are specialised for certain functions.
What was Sperry and Gazzanigas method ?
An image is projected to either the left or right visual field. Info could not travel to other hemisphere due to cut Corpus callosum. They used 3 tasks.
What were the 3 tasks they used ?
- Describe what you see task - PPs had to describe what they saw
- Tactile test - object was placed in PPs hand and they had to describe what they felt, or select similar object from list
- Drawing task - PPs were shown a picture, they simply had to draw what they saw
What did Sperry and Gazzaniga find?
- Describe what you see - When picture was presented to right visual field (so processed by left hemisphere) patient could describe what they saw - thus left hemisphere is dominant in language production
- Tactile test - When object was placed in right hand (processed by left hemi) patient could describe what they felt or pick a similar one. Left hand couldn’t describe but could pick a similar one.
- Drawing task - When picture was presented to Right field, right hand would draw a less clear photo then left (showing that right hemi is superior for visual motor tasks) When presented to the LVF (controlled by right hemisphere) the left hand (also controlled by right hemi) drawing would be more clear even tho all PPs were right-handed. Shows how the right hemisphere is superior in visual motor tasks.
What is a strength of split brain research ?
Due to circumstances, experiments on split brain patients are highly controlled and scientific
What is a weakness of split brain research ?
Most studies using split brain patients have very little participants, meaning it is hard to generalise to target population
