Split brain research Flashcards
What is hemispheric lateralisation?
The idea that the two halves of the brain are functionally different.
What did Sperry carry out?
He cut the corpus callosum and other tissues which connect the two halves to separate the hemispheres. this allowed Sperry to see how the two hemispheres were specialised to certain functions.
What was Sperry’s procedure?
He projected a word or an image into the patients right visual field and then the same onto the right visual field.
What did Sperry find?
When a picture of the object was shown to the right visual field, the patient could describe what was seen but if it was shown to the left visual field, the patient couldn’t describe it and often reported nothing was there. The left hand was able to touch the object presented to the left visual field, even if they were unable to label it. If two words were presented at the same time, they would pick up the object with their left hand and say the word on the right side, even if they don’t match.
What are the strengths of split brain research?
The work was pioneering and showed how the left hemisphere is the analyser and the right is the synthesiser
It has good methodology as they are standardised procedures
It has prompted theoretical debates about the communication between the two halves and so we are all two minds.
What are the weaknesses of split brain research?
There are issues with generalisation as there were only 11 participant and they all had a history of epileptic seizures.
There are also methodological issues as the control group was made of non-epileptic participants, making it harder to compare results.
The differences in function may be overstated as when the two halves work together, both sides can carry out functions.
