SPLIT BRAIN RESEARCH

Created by

Carys Evans

Cards (12)

what is hemispheric lateralisation?
when specialised areas of the brain are found in one of the brains hemispheres rather than both
who studied split brains?
Sperry - sought to demonstrate that the two hemispheres were specialised for certain functions and could perform tasks independently of one another
What was Sperry’s procedure?
participants were positioned so an image could be flashed up in their left or right visual field
Describing what you see findings
object shown to right visual field they can name it
in left visual field they couldn’t name it
recognising by touch findings
could not name the object in their left visual field but could select a matching object using their left hand
composite words procedure
each visual field was presented with a different word that formed a word when combined. Asked to say the word and draw it using left hand
composite words findings
draws what is shown in the left visual field but says what is shown in right visual field
LH dominated verbal description
RH dominated drawing
matching faces procedure
shown composite picture made of two different halves of a face. asked to verbally describe what they saw then pick a matching picture
matching faces findings
verbally describe they would describe face on the right
select the picture they would chose the one that matched the left
which hemisphere is responsible for recognising faces?
right
Strengths of split brain research
Shows lateralised brain functions -the LH is analytical and verbal, the RH is adept at spatial tasks and music, useful for brain damage
methodology used - standardised procedures, controlled lab experiment. High internal validity
limitations of Sperry’s research
only 11 participants, lacks population validity and not generalisable
all had history of seizures, control group was 11 without history of epileptic seizures - could be confounding variable
Some patients corpus callosum had been severed more than others - participant variables