AO3

• A Strength is that use of highly controlled procedures.

  -Sperry asked ppts to look at a dot in the centre of the screen while one eye was blindfolded ensuring that only one hemisphere received the input.

  -This gives the findings strong internal validity and makes them scientifically credible.
• A weakness is generalising findings to whole population

  -only conducted experiments on 11 people all who had major epilepsy and had undergone commissurotomy surgery

  -neurological differences caused by epilepsy may not reflect normal brain functioning
• A strength is that sperry's research has

  -provided pioneering evidence for hemispheric lateralisation and greatly enhanced our understanding of how the brain works.

  -This has influenced later cognitive neuroscience, leading to important insights into brain plasticity and recovery after injury.
• However more recent research has suggested

  -that the distinction between the two hemispheres may be less clear-cut than Sperry proposed.

  -For instance, some language functions have been found in the right hemisphere, and the two sides normally work together in everyday life. This suggests that split-brain research may exaggerate functional differences between the hemispheres.
• A strength is the research's practical value

  -understanding hemispheric lateralisation has implications for neurosurgery and rehabilitation, for example by highlighting how certain functions may compensate for damage in one hemisphere.