1 Sperry and Gazzaniga Flashcards
The Split Brain in Man Year
1967
The Split Brain in Man Authors
Gazzaniga and Sperry
The Split Brain in Man Background
Sperry severed the corpos callosum in cats in discovered how. He covered one of their eyes and taught them a task. When the eyepatch was moved to the other eye they had to be retought the task.
The Split Brain in Man Theory (4 questions)
(1) could the right and left sides of the body still coordinate?
(2) If language is in the left brain, how would the ability to speak be affected?
(3) Would senses be affected?
(4) Would the different brains both think seperately?
The Split Brain in Man Method and Results 1 (vision)
A light was placed in front of both eyes, and they would flash in a random order. The patient was asked to identify which light was flashing. They were able to point to any light that flashed, but they would verbally indicate that only the right light ever flashed. This is because the center for speech is in the left brain (connected to the right eye).
The Split Brain in Man Method and Results 2 (tactile)
Participants were asked to identify objects only by touching them with their hands. When an object was in the right hand, they could say what it was. When it was in the left hand, they couldn’t describe it in any way.
The Split Brain in Man Significance (2 things)
(1) Your left brain is better at speaking, writing, reading, and math.
(2) Your right brain is better at spatial tasks, recognizing faces, symbolic reasoning, and artistic abilities.
The Split Brain in Man Legacy (5 things)
(1) Sperry received the Nobel Prize in 1981.
(2) Their findings are misrepresented in popular culture because people think one person is either born as left brained or right brained. In reality, everybody’s two hemispheres work together.
(3) Recent research in France has found that the corpus callosum probably isn’t the only connection between the two hemispheres.
(4) Other research has shown that specialization in left or right brain tasks can be predictive of careers.
(5) Criticism: Remember that Gazzinga and Sperry only had a very small number of participants.
