M.A. (Psychology) / The motivation for this research arose from the fact that very little if any empirical research has been done in connection with the cognitive abilities of persons with right hemispheric language representation. Knowledge of the structural and functional correlates of hemispheric asymmetry has thus far been obtained primarily from people with left hemispheric language representation. A further motivation was that the existing knowledge about hemispheric asymmetry has been obtained mainly from studies of patients with brain damage...

The major purpose of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between cerebral laterality dominance and leadership behavior and traits. An additional purpose was to determine whether a relationship exists between cerebral laterality dominance and gender, ethnicity, and educational position.

Because there is a growing amount of contradictory evidence concerning the relationship of WISC-R subscale scores to hemispheric orientation, the present study examined the validity of the WISC-R subscale scores as indicators of individual hemispheric orientation. The present study hypothesized a significant relationship between Verbal-Performance scale score discrepancies and hemispheric orientation as assessed by conjugate lateral eye movements. This study also hypothesized that subjects with a right hemisphere orientation would score higher on t~ block design, picture completion, and object assembly subtests than would subjects with a left hemisphere orientation.

This study investigated the effects of hemisphericity and field dependence on programming skills. Twenty-five undergraduate university students from two introductory Logo programming courses completed the study. Results suggested that hemisphericity is related to the complexity of program structure (tree depth). Supplementary analyses indicated a negative correlation between previous programming experience and the use of recursion. Implications for education and suggestions for further research are discussed, and specific implications regarding the teaching of Logo are given.

Considering that the nature of the input is one of the most important variables in determining how the brain will process information, findings from tachistoscopic studies aimed at assessing hemispheric specializations are examined in terms of the characteristics of the incoming information either available or required for processing. The basic features of the tachistoscopic technique are analyzed, and a framework for further investigation is suggested along with a reinterpretation of existing evidence. In a subsequent series of four experiments, several assumptions and interpretations made earlier are empirically tested. In a second series of three experiments, hemispheric asymmetries are examined with respect to the properties of the visual system and its capacity to extract information in terms of the spatial-frequency spectral components of a stimulus. Methodological and theoretical implications of the results are discussed, and an account of cerebral specialization suggesting a hemispheric sensitivity to different aspects of the same information is proposed.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the perceived level of ability (self-efficacy) differed from actual performance ability for individuals with cerebral vascular accidents (CVA's). Patients were assessed for perception and actual ability level on Activities of Daily Living (ADL's) and Balance skills at admission and at discharge from an inpatient CVA rehabilitation program. Thirty patients with unilateral brain lesions (15 right and 15 left) constituted the study group. ANOVA and repeated measures were used in this quasi-experimental, quantitative study to examine data. All three research hypotheses were tested at an alpha level of .05 for significance. The first and third research hypotheses were supported: CVA patients' self-efficacy scores on ADL's and Balance Skills were significantly different from actual performance scores at time of admission to a CVA rehabilitation program; and the self-efficacy scores were significantly closer to actual performance scores for ADL skills at discharge. The improved accuracy in perception of Balance Skills was not supported by comparison of scores between admission and discharge measurements. The second hypothesis that right hemisphere CVA lesion patients self-efficacy and actual performance scores would be significantly different compared to the scores of patients with left hemisphere CVA lesions was not supported. A ttest for paired samples was also performed on the ADL scores data to investigate three-way significance for the third hypothesis. The patients studied successfully completed the prescribed therapeutic activities in a CVA rehabilitation program and were able to predict with significantly improved accuracy, performance ability on ADL skills at discharge. / School of Nursing

Since the face forms over the brain in the course of embryonic development, facial anthropometry may reflect brain structure. The motor functions of each side are controlled by the side of the brain opposite the body side. The purpose of this study was to establish whether a correlation exists between handedness and the location of the external auditory meatuses, as a possible consequence of brain asymmetry. Facial photographs were taken of 78 volunteers. Straws, placed in the external ear canals, were used to mark the external auditory meatuses. The level of the top of each meatus was measured from each volunteer's visual plane, as established by connecting the center of a point of reflected light in each pupil. Each volunteer was also given the Edinburgh Laterality Inventory (Durden-Smith and DeSimone, 1984:53) to determine "true" handedness (50 right-handers and 28 left-handers). Right-handers, as determined by either writing hand or laterality inventory, were found to exhibit a greater tendency for the left auditory meatus to be lower. Specifically, 68% of the right-handers, as opposed to 39% of the left-handers, exhibited a left external auditory meatus located at a lower position on the skull than the right meatus. This was significant at the 0.05 level. The differences in external auditory meatal distances from the visual plane were greater on the left in right-handers 68% of the time, equal 10%, and greater on the right 22% of the time. A reverse correlation for the right asymmetry for left-handers was not found. Instead, for the left-handed sample a nearly even distribution for meatal location was found: 39% left asymmetry, 29% symmetry, and 32% right asymmetry.The study strongly supported the hypothesis that right-handers have a significant tendency for left asymmetry in location of the external auditory meatuses. The study did not support the hypothesis that the meatal asymmetry correlates to the side opposite the handedness of the individual. Of-perhaps greater significance is the finding that the percentages of left asymmetry of both groups match the brain asymmetry percentages found by Galaburda (1984:15) for the planum temporale, an extension on the upper surface of the temporal lobe of the brain. The level of the external auditory meatuses, as a reflection of brain asymmetry, may serve as an external measurement of the location of Wernicke's area which is located near the planum temporale and has a major role in speaking and comprehension of the spoken word and in reading and writing. Simple techniques for locating the language centers of the brain would be an advantage in developing education plans and teaching strategies for students with each of the possible hemispheric dominance patterns. / Department of Anthropology

Thesis (M.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychiatry, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 350-389).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-112). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 28, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-42).