Sperry

• What are the two halves of the brain called

  Left and right hemispheres
• what is the corpus callosum

  Connects the two hemispheres and passes messages through them
• What is a commissurotomy?

  The division of two hemispheres by surgery, and stops the communication between the two hemispheres as they are completely separate
• What can damage to the corpus callosum

  Memory impairments, schizophrenia, ADHD
• What is the right hemisphere responsible for

  • Creativity
  • Facial recognition
  • Perception
• What is the left hemisphere responsible for?

  Language- speech comprehension and production.
• What is contralateral control?

  Where hemispheres control the opposite sides of the body
• What is the LVF and where does the information go?

  The left visual field is the left side of both eyes and the information goes to the right hemisphere.
• What is the RVF and where does the information go?

  The right visual field is the right side of both eyes and the information goes to the left hemisphere.
• What is Sperrys aim ?

  To investigate the effects of hemisphere disconnection and to show that each hemisphere has different functions.
• What is Sperry's research method ?

  A Quasi experiment in a laboratory environment
• What is Sperry's IV?

  Manipulation of the hemispheres by various tests.
• What was Sperry's DV

  Participants performance on a variety of visual and tactile tests.
• What was the design in Sperry's experiment ?

  Repeated measures design.
• What was the apparatus used in Sperrys experiment?

  A tachistoscope
• What was the sampling method in Sperrys experiment?

  An opportunity sampling method
• Describe the sample in Sperry's experiment.

  11 patients with epilepsy from LA who have all had an operation that has cut their corpus callosum in order to stop seizures spreading. A range of different timings of when they had the surgery, one being 5.5 years, another 4 years and 9 others that hadn't long had the surgery before the experiment.
• What were the tests like in Sperry?

  The tests consisted of visual and tactile tests.

  6 Visual tests

  3 Tactile tests
• Visual tests


  1. Responding with speech to visual stimuli presented to the left and right hemisphere separately

  2. Responding in writing to visual stimulus presented to left and right hemisphere separately
• Example Visual test

  • Stimulus flashed to either RVF or LVF
  • Participant asked to describe in speech and writing
  • People could only describe objects in speech if shown to RVF
• Example Visual test

  • Stimulus flashed to either LVF or RVF
  • Participant asked to write the name of it
  • Participants could only write down the name of the objects in the RVF only
• Example tactile test

  Duel processing- objects placed in both hands- left and right.

  Results- only objects held in right hand can be named in speech or writing and the participant makes guesses for objects in left hand.