Split‐brain theory and education
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8404716 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Geoffrey Yarlott (University of Nottingham, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 235-248 |
| Publication date | 1986-10-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Educational Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1005 • E-ISSN: 1467-8527 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00071005.1986.9973740 |
| OpenAlex | W2074330109 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
ancestors. But modern scientific investigation is opening the way to a 'new' psychology. It has revealed that the human brain is essentially a double organ, the twin hemispheres of which perform very different functions. Left-hemisphere processing is associated with logical analysis, verbal reasoning and the orderly sequencing of ideas; the right hemisphere with the unconscious, intuition and emotion. It is the right hemisphere (which is closely associated with the ancient limbic brain, the so-called emotional brain) which is the 'specialist in emotional matters'. Although research in this area of investigation is still at an early stage of development, and beset by complex methodological and theoretical problems, it is predicted that it will lead eventually to nothing less than a paradigmatic shift in the general consciousness and a 'right-brain' revolution in education. Traditional education, it is alleged, has been dominated by 'left-brained' approaches, by a preoccupation with developing rationality and verbal abilities at the expense of emotion. What is needed is a better balance between the intellectual and the 'feeling' sides of human nature2. Similar such complaints have been made often enough in the past, of course, but what is new in the present formulation are the kinds of remedy being prescribed for correcting this imbalance. All over America, it is reported, spiritual and meditative disciplines, involving 'centring' exercises, yoga, relaxation and fantasy, are being used to promote new levels of awareness and affectively enriched states of consciousness. Never before, as the author of The Aquarian Conspiracy proclaims (and no one, surely, is likely to contradict her) has the deliberate use of consciousness-expanding techniques been so widely practised in mass education. Never before has a culture undertaken to develop 'whole-brain' knowing in the general populace for the express purpose of fusing intellect and feeling3
Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Consciousness · Epistemology · Feeling · Intuition · Lateralization of brain function · Nothing · Psychoanalysis · Rationality · Unconscious mind · Cognitive Science and Education Research · Neuroscience · Neuroscience, Education and Cognitive Function · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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