Split brain research Flashcards
Who was Roger Sperry?
A neurologist and the pioneer of research in hemispheric lateralisation
Won Nobel prize in 1981 for split brain research
Revolutionised brain science
What is the corpus callosum?
Thick band of fibres that connect the left and right hemispheres
What is contra laterality?
Left hemisphere processes info from right side of body and vice versa
When was Sperry’s split brain research?
1960s
Who were the split brain patients?
Severe epileptics whose hemispheres were split in order to prevent the spread of seizures
What was Sperry’s aim?
To investigate the effects of hemispheric disconnection
What experimental design was Sperry’s study and how many subjects were there?
Quasi
11
What happened in Sperry’s ‘Describe what you see’ task?
When shown on right visual field, patients can answer what word they saw. When shown on left visual field, they can draw it, but can’t say what they saw.
What happened in Sperry’s ‘recognition by touch’ variation?
When object displayed in left visual field, ppts can’t say what they saw, but can pick it out of a bag of objects with their left hand.
What happened in Sperry’s emotion based variation?
Pin up of nude presented in left visual field, would produce blushing and giggling, but ppts insisted they didn’t see anything
Did Sperry’s study have scientific credibility?
Yes, he had a high level of control over variables as it was carried out in a lab with standardised procedures, allowing him to send information to each hemisphere. Research is easily replicable to test for reliability.
Does Sperry’s work have real world applications?
Yes, many applications for helping patients, such as those who’ve had a stroke, as this can affect one side of the brain. This research can assist psychologists and doctors with understanding recovery.
However, misunderstanding or exaggerating extent of lateralisation can lead to unsupported ideas about left/right brain differences.
Is Sperry’s study reliable?
Sample size of 11, cannot be sure whether all patients experienced same amount of de-connection, surgeries done by different surgeons so not clear how deeply corpus callosum was cut, therefore unreliable as Sperry lacks control over this variable
Were there ethical issues?
Yes, as the ppts in Sperry’s study usually don’t notice any problems in everyday life. Situation is not common, and may have distressed ppts as they realise they’re unable to do certain things
