Imagine the following scenario: administrators at the local high school have been impressed by recent media reports of cerebral hemispheric specialization and are considering curricular reform to achieve a better balance between "left-brained" and "right-brained" activities. You have been hired to advise them on this issue. What would your recommendation be, and why?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Although there is some evidence that the cerebral hemispheres are specialized to a degree, there is no basis for saying that people have two independent streams of consciousness or that each hemisphere has its own cognitive style. There is little basis for labeling some people as "left-brained" and others as "right-brained," or for relating these differences to distinctive task preferences, personalities, or vocations. All information reaches both hemispheres, since they communicate via the corpus callosum. Thus, cerebral specialization is not a sound basis for educational reform.