Brain Essay, Research Paper
Left and Right Brain
The article in which I chose to examine is called Right Brain, Left Brain: Fact and Fiction, written by Jerre Levy. In the past fifteen years or so there has been a lot of talk of left brain and right brain people. Levy’s reason for righting this article was clearly to stop the misconceptions and show the truth about how our brain hemispheres operate. Levy first explores the myth of the left brain and right brain theory. She states that generally people see the left hemisphere of the brain controlling logic and language and the right, creativity and intuition. In addition people differ in their styles of thought, depending on which half of the brain is dominant. She believes that most of what these notions state is farce. Next the article explores the history of this fascination of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Apparently the study of this aspect of the brain traces back to time of Hippocrates. Levy weaves in and out of the various theories and prominent people known for contributing to the confusion. It wasn’t until 1962 when Roger W. Sperry began experimenting on certain aspects of the brain that contribute to the truth of the left and right brain theory. Sperry studied people who had undergone surgical division of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the two hemispheres. His studies showed that, “an object placed in the right hand (left hemisphere) could be named readily, but one placed in the left hand (nonverbal right hemisphere) could be neither named nor described. Next to branch off of Sperry’s studies was psychologist Doreen Kimura. Kimura developed behavioral methods which involved presenting visual stimuli rapidly to either the left or right visual fields. Another important method developed was “dichotic listening” which centered around the use of sound to study the hemispheres. Through these tests and the continual study the theory that the left brain controlled ended. Instead a new theory was born known as the two-brain theory. This said that at different times one of the two hemispheres would be operating. An example of this is that the right hemisphere is in control when an artist paints but the left hemisphere was in control when a novelist wrote a book. This theory failed because of one physical studies showed that people with hemispheres surgically disconnected could operate in everyday life. Also, research demonstrated that each hemisphere had its own functional expertise, and that the two halves were complementary. Next, the article states its worth. The author shows the up to date agreed upon theory of the two hemispheres in five simple points. 1. The two hemispheres are so similar that when they are disconnected by split-brain surgery, each can function remarkably well, although quite imperfectly 2. Although they are remarkably similar they are also different. The differences are seen in contrasting contributions. Each hemisphere contributes something to every action a person takes. 3. Logic is not confined to the left hemisphere. Although dominant in the left logic is present in the right hemisphere. 4. There is no evidence that either creativity or intuition is an exclusive property of the right hemisphere. Same theory as #3. 5. Since the two hemispheres do not function independently, and since each hemisphere contributes its special capacities to all cognitive activities, it is quite impossible to educate one hemisphere at a time in a normal brain. Levy comes to the conclusion that people are not purely left or right brained. There is a continuum in which the hemispheres work together in harmony. Often the left or right hemisphere is more active in some people but it is never the sole operator. She concludes, “We have a single brain that generates a single mental self.” Compared to what we did in class related to the left and right hemispheres of the brain, both what we learned and the article taught were extremely similar. Our exercise showed that we are not left or right brained but merely somewhere on the scale between left and right brain. Some of us were extreme left, few extreme right and most in the middle leaning left a bit (this is where I fell). I could not agree more with what we did in class and the article I read. The author wrote a fabulous complete article. In my summary which probably was a little lengthy, I feel I am not doing the author just. She had so much wonderful background that there was no way to include it all. She introduced the problem at hand and explored every aspect of the subject showing other’s views and previously excepted theories. After all was said she introduced her (generally accepted) theory in a simple well thought out five point system that suited the novice as well as the expert.
Men and Women
What influences a person s identity? Is it their homes, parents, religion, or maybe where they live? When do they get one? Do they get it when they understand right from wrong, or when they can read, or are they born with it? Everyone has one and nobody has the same, is there a point in everyone s life when they get one? A person s identity is his own, nobody put it there and nobody can take it out. Everyone in this world has a different identity because they all make their own over the course of their life. A person s identity also causes a person to have masculine and feminine traits. There is no one thing that gives a person their identity, there are however many different factors that contribute to one s identity.
What is someone s identity? Is it the way they look, the way they dress, or it could be many things all put together, or is it none of the above? To me someone s identity is a part of their being. Nobody will ever hold it, touch it, or even see it, but it is there. Everybody has one, it guilds your decision making, your thoughts, ideas, and dreams. You may think something is terrible while someone else does not even care and yet another person may laugh, why? The answer is simple, everyone has his own identity and personality. Everyone feels, acts, thinks, and dreams differently. People may have some of these things in common with one another, but they will not be totally the same, it is like a fingerprint, unique.
There are many origins to a person s identity, their family, friends, home life, religion, environment and others. But how does it get there, you do not go into a store and pick on off the shelf. A person s identity is developed over many years and put together by the person themselves. It comes from the individuals ability to think, reason and form an opinion. Nobody has the same mind, or the same or the same conscious, so how could anyone have the same identity as another. A person s identity is developed over many years from the time they become aware of their surroundings, to the time they decide if they are going to college, and even as they grow old there identity will change with them. As people s dreams are dreamed and goals are accomplished their identities will change with the individual. Their aspirations and values will change, causing their identities to change with it. It may be a slight alteration or a major overhaul but there identity will adjust to the person.
One of the factors of forming an identity will obviously be your family. One s family if invaluable to them. Your family may not be your biological parents or ever a blood relative at all, but nobody in this world can live from birth without some one. But no matter who it is, they will be the people who take care of you when you are sick or aid you when you need help. These people will be there with you for a long time and yes they will have a major impact on what you turn out to be it the future. A lot off people are fortunate enough to live with a mother and a father, they may ever have some brothers and sisters to play with as they grow up. But ever with the same family influences, brothers and sisters still do not have the same identities Some may even say having a traditional family would be bad for the development of an identity. For example, what kind identity would a young girl develop if see repeatedly saw her father beat on her mother. She would probably not feel the same as another girl whose father always showed love and caring for her mother. What about a teenager who used drugs as often as he changed his underwear. Would his younger brother, in looking up to him, feel the same as another boy who grew up never seeing an illegal drug before. If family members have no regard for keeping the other members of the family on the right path to being a good person, then what will they become. A large part of how someone turns out is due to the family. A good, solid, caring family may give rise to a kinder, gentler person than a family that does not care whether the children get into trouble. Kids grow up seeing their parents and how they act, or not seeing their parents at all. Proper parenting will lead to better identities in there children.
Gender is a major cause for a person s identity. A person might act a certain way because of the gender that is given to them. It is often referred that a person might act a certain way because it is in their nature. A person s nature is a major reason that causes a persons identity. A person might be mentally sick and just go crazy on people. This is part of the person s nature, he is going to do what his nature compels him to. A person s nature might also influence a person to act like a man or a woman. A man might be a man but have feminine traits. This is the nature of his mind. Nature and identity also characterize how the person acts. The nature of someone might make someone act stronger in their own sex. Identity can be seen in even the youngest of children as soon a a child is ready to make their own decision, no matter how trivial the decision might be, the child is starting to create his or her own identity and define their own nature. This nature can be seen in children too. One child s nature might make a little girl act like a boy, also called a tomboy. This means that the girl just like to play with boys and do boy things. While another girl, with a different mentality, might play with Barbie dolls and dress in a pink dress.
Nature and identity might make a woman act the way that she does. In the stories The Astronomers Wife by Kate Boyle and A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin the woman are defiantly feminine. Maybe they are too feminine for their husbands who seemingly cannot satisfy their women fully. If the husbands were doing their job in the women would not be cheating on them. The husbands seemingly cannot satisfy their women fully or they wouldn t be interested in others. Either the women needs mental satisfaction or physical satisfaction. Another reason a woman would cheat on her husband is it might be part of her identity, a part of who she is. In this case there probably is no chance that she will not cheat on her husband. A person s nature might cause a person to want and need things that they already have. Why else would a man, who has a faithful wife for years, cheat on her wife someone whom he probably barely knows.
Siblings grow up together, they play together, and they have fun together. But eventually they will get there own friends and make there own decisions, this also leads to a person s identity. Not all people like all the same things or people. Joe may be friends with Larry, and Larry may like Bob, but Joe may not like Bob. There is no reason to hate each other, they just do not mix. Friends also play a part in a person s developing an identity, they are also a good indicator of one s identity. Whether you hang around wall street all day or you work on your farm all day, may tell a little about your identity. Neither is better than the other but they probably have different interests and likes. That does not mean they can not be friends and get along, they will just be different.
A person s religion can also play a big role in one s identity. People who grow up belonging to a religion would be a lot more likely to continue on with it when they grow older than someone who never believed in one, to start. Religion can have a rather large effect on a person forming an identity. If a person learns to treat others with respect and kindness as they were young, they may keep it with them as they turn into adults. On the other hand a religion could have negative effects on a person s identity. For instance, belonging to a cult that believes in sacrificing animals or even humans would not give a person a very nice identity. Especially when compared to a person who grew up as a practicing Roman Catholic. A person s beliefs can easily lead a person into making a decision, especially regarding ethics or kindness. The person growing up not caring about anything but themselves could easily make a different choice than a person that was taught to be respectful to other people. However this is not always the case, religion can only work if the person decides to follow it and adhere to it. A person who goes to church every Sunday with their parents and does not care about it will probably not have a large religious effect on their identity, it may even cause the person to think who needs religion, it is useless. A person s identity is his own, they make it and develop it however they choose to. Religion may play a part, or not, it may be bad or good, but the individual has the final say.
Your environment does not just mean your outside surroundings, this also refers to your home. People live en all kinds of homes and I do not mean a ranch or a cabin. Your home life is also your environment. Is it clean and neat or is it bug infested and dirty. Kids growing up in all kinds of homes will form different identities. Will they be neat freaks or will they not care how they live in their houses. It is a shame to see people living in filthy, run down places. The kids who come out of neat, clean homes would probably be different in how they look at dirt and grime. Do they care or not?
Men and women are different because of society has set them up with. It is observed for men to be strong and women to be weak. Also it is in the mentality of the person who is making the comparison to choose how a woman or man is supposed to think. For example one man might think women should be in the house all day making food, cleaning, and making babies. On the other hand another man might like to stay home and take care of the kids and the house while the wife works. In today s society they are both acceptable but the second choice is becoming an ever more popular choice. Another mentality that a man might have is that all women are sluts and bitches. If this mode of thought is used then the person probably has very little respect for a woman. Many rap stars have this mentality about woman. Bitches ain t sh*t but hoes and tricks… (Dr. Dre). This is a line from Dr. Dre s album The Chronic. The is the type of thinking that might lead someone to think that all women cheat on their husbands. In the story The Astronomer s Wife by Kate Boyle, the husband was asleep probably had no idea that his wife was about to cheat on him with the plumber it probably never even crossed his mind. Also in A Respectable Woman by Kate Chopin, the wife tries to be honest and true but she has a lot of feeling for a man whom she does not really know. The husband trusts his wife greatly he wants her to be friends with his friend, but the wife has something different in mind. She wants the man sexually. The husband has no idea of her intentions. There are many reasons that make men and women act the way they do. It could be a number of possibilities but mostly is the way they were raised.
However with all these factors related to forming an identity the most important and most influential is the person themselves. We see people every day, some whom we want to be like and some we hope we never turn out like. With all the other outside factors to guide and help or push and hamper, the individual has the last say. You are the only on who says what you want to be like over the course of your life. Nobody will ever get inside your mind and do the thinking for you. Nobody can influence you, you may feel as if you are being forced to do something but you do not have to do anything. You make the final decision. However you act, think, and speak is totally up to you.
People grow up all coming from all different kinds of places, backgrounds and families. They will all have different identities. Gender affects the decisions made by people. Their identity and the nature of the person makes them act the way they do. Nobody is the same and nobody will ever be. All the outside influences will have an effect on their identities but the individual has the last word on it. Nobody is the same because each person will form his own identity to what ever they want to be like.
left and right brain
By: ken
Psychology Right Brain, Left Brain The human brain is a miraculous organ. It regulates thought, memory, judgment, personal identity, and other aspects of what is commonly called mind. It also regulates aspects of the body including body temperature, blood pressure, and the activity of internal organs to help the body respond to its environment and to maintain the body’s health. In fact, the brain is considered so central to human well-being and survival that the death of the brain is considered in many parts of the world to be equal legally to the death of the person. In the past fifteen years or so there has been a lot of talk of left brain and right brain people. Clearly their are misconceptions and truths about how our brain hemispheres operate. First of all the myth of the left brain and right brain theory. This states that generally people see the left hemisphere of the brain controlling logic and language and the right, creativity and intuition. In addition people differ in their styles of thought, depending on which half of the brain is dominant. Some people believe that most of what these notions state is farce. Next the article explores the history of this fascination of the left and right hemispheres of the brain… It wasn’t until 1962 when Roger W. Sperry began experimenting on certain aspects of the brain that contribute to the truth of the left and right brain theory. Sperry studied people who had undergone surgical division of the corpus callosum, the bridge between the two hemispheres. His studies showed that, “an object placed in the right hand (left hemisphere) could be named readily, but one placed in the left hand (nonverbal right hemisphere) could be neither named nor described. Doreen Kimura. Kimura developed behavioral methods which involved presenting visual stimuli rapidly to either the left or right visual fields. Another important method developed was “dichotic listening” which centered around the use of sound to study the hemispheres. Through these tests and the continual study the theory that the left brain controlled ended. Instead a new theory was born known as the two-brain theory. This said that at different times one of the two hemispheres would be operating. An example of this is that the right hemisphere is in control when an artist paints but the left hemisphere was in control when a novelist wrote a book. This theory failed because of one physical studies showed that people with hemispheres surgically disconnected could operate in everyday life. Also, research demonstrated that each hemisphere had its own functional expertise, and that the two halves were complementary. There are five pionts two each hemisphere. 1. The two hemispheres are so similar that when they are disconnected by split-brain surgery, each can function remarkably well, although quite imperfectly 2. Although they are remarkably similar they are also different. The differences are seen in contrasting contributions. Each hemisphere contributes something to every action a person takes. 3. Logic is not confined to the left hemisphere. Although dominant in the left logic is present in the right hemisphere. 4. There is no evidence that either creativity or intuition is an exclusive property of the right hemisphere. 5. Since the two hemispheres do not function independently, and since each hemisphere contributes its special capacities to all cognitive activities, it is quite impossible to educate one hemisphere at a time in a normal brain. Through my research I came to the conclusion that people are not purely left or right brained. There is a continuum in which the hemispheres work together in harmony. Often the left or right hemisphere is more active in some people but it is never the sole operator. “We have a single brain that generates a single mental self.”, but merely somewhere on the scale between left and right brain. Some of us are extreme left, few extreme right and most in the middle leaning left a bit (this is where I fell).