Lesson 8 split-brain research biopsych Flashcards
(12 cards)
Why did surgeons cut the corpus callosum ?
To prevent the electrical activity caused by epileptic seizures crossing from one hemisphere to the other
Where does information from the left visual field go to?
Right hemisphere
Where does information from the right visual field go?
Left hemisphere
What does the cutting of the corpus callosum do?
Prevents information presented to one visual field and one hemisphere from travelling to the other hemisphere
What were the split-brain patients asked to do?
Stare at a dot in the centre of the screen
What was presented to the split-brain patients?
Information in either their left or right visual field
What were the split-brain patients asked to do?
Make responses with either their left hand, right hand or verbally
What would happened if they were flashed an image of a dog in their right visual field and then asked what they had seen?
They will be able to answer dog as the information went to their left hemisphere where their language centres are
What would happen if a picture of a cat is flashed in their left visual field and they are asked what they had seen?
They would not be able to answer as they have no language centres however they can draw it with their left hand because the right hemisphere controls the left hand
Who carried out this research?
Sperry and Gazzaniga (1968)
Strengths of this research
-Experiments are highly controlled and scientific
Weaknesses of this research
-the disconnection between hemispheres were greater in some split-brain patients than others
-some split-brain patients have experienced drug therapy for much longer than others
-the comparison groups were not considered valid as they were often people with no history of epileptic seizures
-many studies using split-brain patients have as few as three participants, making it hard for results to be generalised to the target population
-the data is very artificial as in the real world this can be compensated for by unrestricted use of both visual fields so it lacks ecological validity
