Sperry Flashcards
(38 cards)
what is epilepsy
a condition which is brought about by abnormal impulses discharging within the brain disrupting nornal brain patterns
in the 1940s what treatment was discovered
split brain surgery (comissturotomy)
what does split brain sugrery do
corpus callosum is cut so the abnormal electrical impulses could not spread throughout the brain
what does lateralisation of function mean
one side of the brain has a different job
what is the corpus callosum
fibres that carry majoirty of information between the two hemispheres of the brain
what is contralateral control
the idea that each side of your body is controlled by the other side of the brain
what does commissurotomy mean
surgical operation to sever the corpus callosum
whats the aim of sperrys study
study the function of sperated and independent hemispheres
what was sperrys sample
11 patients (epileptic) who underwent commissurtomy as a treatment
obtained from USA surgery
Non epileptic0 compared with group who had’nt had surgery (control)
why did sperry select the sample he did
different hemispheres
weaknesses of sperrys sample
small
extraneous variables (all jad epilepsy, 2 had surgery 4-5 years ago)
what controls were used in the study
fixation point
one eye covered
hands out of view
tachistoscope
1/10th second time for presentation
objects
symbols
if objects were flashed to the right visual field what hemisphere did this go to?
what could the ppts do?
left
tell you what they have seen
the left visual field connects to what hemishpere
right hemisphere
the right visual field links to what hemisphere
left
what does the right hemisphere represent
non verbal communication
what does the left hemisphere represent
language ability
if objects were flashed to the left visual field what hemisphere did they go to?
what could the ppts do?
right
draw object with their left hand
if an image of an apple went to the LVF and an image of a key went to the RVF
the ppt was asked to draw with their left had what they saw
apple goes to the right H
key goes to left H
they draw the apple and say they saw a key
couldnt say why they drew an apple
simple mathmatical problems were presented to the LVF
what H did this go to?
right
ppts answer with their left hand
a photo of a nude person presented to the LVF
goes to RH
ppts laugh, blush
tell you theyve seen a nude pin up
tactile tasks
objects that were felt by the right hand only went to what H
left
ppts could say what they are holding
tactile tasks
objects that were felt by the left hand only went to what H
right
ppts could find it out of a range of onjects and draw it with left hand
they could say they what are holding
conclusions abt LH
has lanagauge ability (written and verbal)
and controls right hand side of your body
