C h

a p

ter6

"A P

ath to

th e F

uture": H

em isp

h eres, L

e a

rn in

g S

tyles, H an

d ed

n ess,

an d

G en

d er D

ifferen ces

A gu

idan ce cou

n selo

r on ce recom

m end

ed th at a ninth grade boy

w h

o w as h

aving academ ic difficulty be given only ten

m inutes of

h om

ew ork each n

ight. T he reason? S

he claim ed the boy w

as "right­ b

rain ed

" an d

couldn 't b

e expected to concentrate norm ally. H

is parents

sensibly refused

to go

along w ith

this idea,

w hich,

unfortun ately, is n

o t th

e only peculiar one th at em

erged w hen

research about the tw o hem

ispheres becam e a popular topic.

M ost p

arents h ave heard about differences betw

een th e tw

o sides of th

e b rain, b

u t they share professionals' co

nfusion about th eir

p ractical im

plicatio ns. ls there a battle going on in

side children's h

eads as these tw o halves fight for con

trol? A re so

m e children

"right-b rain

ed" learners destined to experience failure in a "left­ brain

ed" curriculum ? C

an a child's "learning style" b e ch

anged? W

h at is a learning style anyw

ay? D

espite w hat you m

ay have heard , tw

o facts are clear. Children are w

hole-brained learners, and th e brain prefers cooperation to

conflict. M oreover, anyone w

ho claim s to h

ave answ ers or "cures"

based on

h em

ispheric research

is undo

ubtedly guilty

of oversim

plification . W

hile the term s "right-" and "left-brained"

m ay provide an interesting m

etaphor, they are neither a scientific fact n

o r an

unch anging asp

ect of brain function . In th

is ch ap

ter I w

ill try to explain w hat is understood scientifically and how

it can sensibly b

e applied to help children link both h em

ispheres into an efficient an

d flex

ible system for learning.

P artn

ers in T

h in

k in

g

If you looked dow n at the top of the h

ead and co uld peer th

ro ugh

the skull, you w ould see that th

e cortex is not one solid m ass, but

it consists of tw o distinct halves-

th e cerebral h

em ispheres. T

hese hardw

orkin g team

m ates contain tw

o sets of co rtical lobes and the associated subcortical structures that w

ork together for all m ental

activity. In a m

ature b rain

, a thick bridge of fibers called the corpus callosum

carries

m essages

in a

constant flow

betw

een the

h em

ispheres. W ith the exception of a few

surgical cases, w hich you

w ill learn about shortly, it isn't possible to be "left-brained" or

"right-brained." E ven after surgery th

e brain fights for norm alcy.

L ikew

ise, a curriculum could not be developed for only one side,

since any

activity au

tom atica

lly engag

es both

o f a

child's hem

ispheres. T h

ere are, h ow

ever, m any individu

al variations in th

e w ay th

e b rain distributes the load, and experien

ce does help "sculpt" their b

alance. C

arl Sagan term ed the corpus callosum

a "path to the future" because he b

elieved th at only dynam

ic cooperation betw een the

hem ispheres can achieve m

ankind's highest objectives.

L U

M P

E R

S A N

D SP

L IT

T E

R S

"C areless" or T

oo C areful?

A s h

e stood to leave m y office, M

r. Jarvis turned to his w ife. "W

ell, w

e h ave our w

ork cut out fo r us, but at least w

e know h

e isn't lazy or stup

id. N ow

that I understand T im

a little better, I'll try to be m

ore pati~~t and app reciate the th

ings he's good at." A

lthough"'th ere is no such thing as a "typical" child, T

im Jarvis

h as a lot in com

m on w

ith m any yo

ungsters w ho strain the p

atience of paren

ts. In fact, tw elve-year-old T

im w

as b affling all the adults

in his life because he w as so goo

d at som e things and

, as he ad

m itted, so poo

r at oth ers. A

star soccer player and vice president of his class, he excelled in art and show

ed a real talent for W eb

design , b

u t h

e w as running into tro

uble w ith m

ath and E nglish

. H e

asto nished his father w

ith his intuitive ability to figure out th e

relatio nship betw

een w ind, w

aves, and th e speed of th

eir sailboat, b

ut he co uldn't rem

em ber the order of the m

ultiplication tables. H

e w as pop

ular w ith h

is teach ers, bu

t his repo rt card reflected their

frustration: "W

ritin g and spellin

g need attention. T im

should take m ore tim

e on sentence strncture."

"T im

seem s to get the ideas in m

ath , bu

t is careless \~th w ritten

w ork. H

e often forgets assign m

ents given in class."

136 o f 330

"T im

can understand stories very w ell, but he m

akes m any

careless errors w hen he reads out loud. I w

ish he w ould participate

m ore in class discussions, as he alw

ays has good ideas." I spent several hours talking to T

im and adm

inistering so m

e tests, on w

hich he scored, overall, som ew

hat above average. T he

extrem ely uneven profile of his abilities, how

ever, suggested a neurological basis for his apparent "carelessness." H

is style of thinking w

as w eighted tow

ard processes usually associated w ith

the right hem isp

h ere-ev

en w

hen he w as perform

ing tasks m ore

appropriately m anaged by the left.

T im

's classm ate, C

arl, on the other hand, w as a w

hiz w ith the

kind of details th at really "bugged" T

im . H

is E nglish com

positions w

ere m eticulously w

ritten , altho

ugh his teacher lam ented that he

should "use

m ore

im agination."

A flaw

less oral

reader, he

som etim

es m issed the po

int of a story even w hen he could recall

all the details. In m ath

, he loved com putation but avoided story

problem s, just as he tried to avoid graphs, charts, an

d m aps. C

arl preferred w

riting linear com puter program

s to athletics, adm itting

that h e h

ad a h ard tim

e getting the "feel" of positions and plays in team

sports. C arl didn't h

ave a lot of problem s in school, but his

parents w o

ndered w hy he w

asn 't very popular.

T h

ese boys' differences reflect the "styles" w ith w

hich their

brains balance

various types

of learning.

For purposes

of illustration

, let's call T im

a "lum per" and C

arl a "splitter." T hese

term s

ch aracterize

the hem

isp heric

m odes

of handling

inform ation.

D ivid

in g B

rain s

Scientists first learn ed about hem

ispheric differences from adult

patients w ho needed surgery to stop epileptic seizures. T

hese sud

den electrical storm s flood th

e b rain w

ith uncon trolled activity;

som etim

es the only w ay to stop them

is by cutting through the corp

us callosum . Such "split-brain" patien

ts, w h

ose hem ispheres

are deprived of a chance to co m

m unicate w

ith each other, have cooperated

in research

to discover

how

each hem

isph ere

fun ctions. B

ecause cortical areas are prim arily connected w

ith sensory organs on th

e opposite (contralateral) side of tl1e bo dy,

scientists are able to "feed" inform ation into one side or the other

depending on w here they present it. T

hese studies have show n that

each hem

isphere has

its ow

n unique

style of

processing inform

ation. F or m

ost people the right hem isphere learns by

getting the w hole intuitive "feel" o

f a situation, w hile the left tends

to analyze system atically and sequentially. T

he right sees outlines and w

holes ("G estalts"), w

hile the left arranges the details in order. T

he right

is a

sim ultaneous

"lum per," the left a

sequential "splitter."

T he left hem

isphere "splitter" is a natural for the analytic, sequential requirem

ents of spoken language. It can deal w ith

rapidly changing sound patterns such as phonics o r w

ords in sentences and fast-m

oving fine-m otor patterns such as w

riting o r

rapid, repeating finger m ovem

ents. W

hile the left hem isphere thinks in w

ords, the right relies m ore

on em otional and sensory im

ages. Its prim ary jobs are im

portant o

n es-m

ain tain

in g

control o f visual space and enabling us to

understand situations. It can form m

ental m aps, organize physical

exploration, m entally "look at" or conceptualize an idea, o

r know

how to rotate suitcases in order to m

ake them all fit into the trunk

of a car. A rtistic talent and ability to "see" others' perspectives also

seem s to spring from

this side of the brain. It has stronger fiber connections to the em

otional centers in the lim bic system

than does the left, and lim

bic em otional centers are also larger on the

right.

H O

W T

H E

H E

M IS

P H

E R

E S

S H

A R

E T

H E

L O

A D

L E

F r: T

H E

" S

P L

IT fE

R "

A nalytic-sequential

P rovides details

R easons logically

A nalyzes, understands tim

e

R IG

H T

: T H

E "

L U

M P

E R

"

W holistic-

sim ultaneous-"hands-on"

Sees w holes

R easons intuitively

D esigns, understands three­

dim ensional space

L anguage: speech, letter sounds

L anguage: pitch, gesture,

gram m

ar ' prosody (m

elody), social interaction

R apidly changing m

otor patterns M anipulospatial abilities:

(w riting, repeated finger

changing environm ent w

ith m

ovem ents)

hands L

ikes autom atic routines

V erbal short-term

m em

ory P

rocessing rapidly changing auditory patterns (u

n d

ers~ d

in g

speech) P

utting things in order E

m otion: approach

L ikes novelty

M em

ory for sensory im ages

G en~rating m

ental m aps,

conceptualizing m entally

U nderstanding intuitively

E m

otion: w ithdraw

W hat are the im

plications for children's learning? F irst, both

hem ispheres are im

portant! O ne m

ajor job of childhood is to develop an efficient system

that utilizes a com bination of"lum

per" and "splitter" skills. O

n the follow ing page is a sum

m ary of som

e im

portant strengths and w eaknesses of T

im and C

arl at age tw elve.

C learly these boys illustrate only tw

o of the innum erable w

ays in w

hich learning

abilities are

m ixed

and m

atched in

each individual's brain. N

o such thing exists as a "one-size-fits-all" diagnosis or teaching plan, and even the usual labels can't capture an individual m

ind.

138 of 330

T IM

: A "

L U

M P

E R

"

S T

R E

N G

T H

S

L arge-m

uscle (global) sports (soccer, sw

im m

ing) S

patial relationships (sailing, m

echanical draw ing): scores at

high school level

V isual creativity ( excels at art

and design)

L earning by doing (carpentry,

m echanical gadgets)

D oing puzzles w

ithout sm all

internal details (seeing "w

holes")

G etting along w

ith peers

C A

R L

: A "SP

L IT

T E

R "

W E

A K

N F

.S S

F .S

Sm all, patterned m

otor sequences (w

riting) A

uditory short-term m

em ory

for w ords: scores like an eight­

year-old Follow

ing sequential directions, being neat and punctual L

anguage expression, gram

m ar, accurate oral

reading, spelling G

etting m ath equations in

order (analyzing and sequencing) H

earing and rem em

bering hom

ew ork assignm

ents, taking notes in class

S T

R E

N G

T H

S

L inear-sequential

com puter progran1m

ing

W E

A K

N E

S S

F .S

Phonics, gram m

ar, story details

M ath "facts"

A lgebra (form

ulae) P

unctuality A

udito1y m em

ory for w

ords or digits

L arge-m

uscle sports, sense of field positions C

om prehension of "big

picture" (reading com prehension,

relationships) M

ath concepts; unfam iliar story

problem s

G eom

etry, m aps, charts, graphs

Im agination, creativity

Social aw aren

ess, understanding oth

ers' points of view

H ow

do all th ese differences com

e about? A s w

ith alm ost every

aspect of brain developm en

t, each child com es into the w

orld w ith

a special

pattern, but

environm ental

influences affect

its realization.

W E

R E

T H

E Y

B O

R N

T H

IS W

A Y

? In

fan t S

p ecialists

W h

en a baby is born, the brain is w aiting for experience to turn on

th e sw

itches. T he right and left hem

ispheres, although clearly defined,

are n ot yet functionally connected, since the bridge

betw een th

em is one of the last m

em branes to be "finished" w

ith coatings of m

yelin , at age tw

elve or later. T he tw

o h em

ispheres are p

rim ed, even before birth, for different types of w

o rk. S

equential noises, such as a series of clicks, provoke greater brain w

ave activity in new

borns' left hem ispheres, w

hereas visual flashes of light arouse the right side, w

hich also responds to no nverbal

m usical notes or the sound of the w

ashing m ach

ine.

U S

IN G

B O

T II H

E M

IS P

H E

R E

S

Z 1

J 'cjii

~ ~

~ – – ~

3 w

_

~1 f1

( CC:~I

~~-? <':= -~

:–=::=':

Scientists are finding that m aturation seem

s to m ove in w

aves, first tow

ard the right, and th en tow

ard th e left sid

e at around eighteen m

onths w hen language co

m prehension and speech are

actively developin g.

T his righ

t-left altern ation continu

es even

through adolescence and m ay differ betw

een boys and girls. W hile

w e can't yet draw

m uch in the w

ay of im plication

s from th

ese findings, th

ey certainly poin t to a need for adults to be patient and

supportive w hile a youngster's brain takes on new

challenges w ith

new m

ental equipm ent.

O ne w

ay to track h em

ispheric developm ent is by observing the

skills exhibited by the tw o hands, since the right hand usually

reflects left-h em

isphere use an d

vice versa -at least w

ith m ost

right-h anded people. F

or exam ple, one study evaluated w

hether three-, fo

ur-, and five-year-olds w ere b

etter at using their right or left han

ds fo r different kinds of activities. T

he right hand 0eft hem

isphere) w as better at sequential m

otor actions, such as finger tapping or peg m

oving, w h

ereas th e left hand (right hem

isphere) p

referred visual-spatial tasks such as copyin g another person

's hand postures.

Innate differences in the h em

isph eres m

ay also influence our habitu

al em otio

nal "style," or tem p

eram ent. C

hild ren w

ho tend to app

roach new situations m

ore p ositively

-th e m

ore extroverted one

s-show

greater left-hem

isphere activation

, w

hile m

ore w

ithdraw n

children activate

m ore

right-h em

isph ere

circuits. C

hild ren also show

b rain activation differences w

hen stressed ;

right-frontal activators show m

o re distress at m

aternal separation .

T h

ese tendencies have been fo un

d in children as young as seven m

on th

s ~ d ap

pear to be related, at least in part, to th e m

oth er's

em otional state. D

epressed m oth

ers show m

ore righ t fro

ntal brain w

aves, an d so do their infants.

O n

e S id

e In stead

o f T

w o

Several dram atic cases prove that hem

isp heric organizatio

n can b

e altered to som e degree. Im

agine yourself as a parent w ho h

as a terrible decisio

n to m ake: Y

our child has been afflicted since birth by a rare convulsive disorder th

at does not respond to m edication.

N eurologists find that one side of th

e brain is seriously injured, causing continu

al, violent reactio ns th

ro ugh

out the b rain

. T he

rem edy is d

rastic: rem oving the entire hem

isphere th at is th

e so

urce of th e tro

uble. A

n um

b er of child

ren w ho have un

dergone this surgery, called "hem

id ecortication

," have dem onstrated brain plasticity in action

. A

s they grew up

, the child ren have asto

nished do ctors by their

app arent norm

alcy, as the op posite hem

isp here and sub

cortical

141 of 330

structures assum ed m

any o f the duties o

f the m issing hem

isphere. C

hildren w ithout

a left hem isphere developed

language and

learned to read, w hile

right hem idecorticates

could perform

visual-spatial t