Ali Maniace

4A, Red
2 May 2015

Objectives, Hypothesis, Procedures, and Conclusions for Left/Right Brain

Hemisphere Testing

OBJECTIVES:
The goal of my experiment is to determine a persons dominant side and whether
this can be altered by the hemisphere of the brain that is actively engaged by
external stimulation at the time of the activity.

HYPOTHESIS:
External stimuli associated with one specific hemisphere in the brain will cause the
subject to be more prone to use the body part which is controlled by that side of the
brain despite that persons usual dominant side.

PROCEDURES:
1. Find a small ball, coin, card-board tube, pictures of family and friends, and
piece of paper with a hole in it.

2. Ask the first subject to perform each task and record which side of the body
they use (the control).
3. Turn on music. Ask the subject to perform each task with the music playing in
the background. Record which side of the body they use.
4. Turn off the music. Show the subject photographs of family and friends
(people they will recognize). Then, ask them to perform each task while
looking at the pictures. Record which side of the body they use.
5. Stop showing the subject photographs. Teach the subject a few words in a
foreign language that they do not know. As they hear and repeat the words,
ask them to perform each task. Record which side of the body they use.
6. Stop teaching the subject the language. Ask the subject to do math problems
in their head as they perform the tasks. Record which side of the body they
use.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 with each subject.
8. OPTIONAL ANIMAL SUBJECTS:
a. If you would like to do the experiment with an animal, hold a favorite
toy in front of them and record the paw that they touch it with first (the
control).
b. Put the toy away and turn on music. A few minutes later, bring the toy
back and record the paw that they touch it with first.
c. Turn off the music, put the toy away, and talk with someone for a few
minutes (within earshot of the animal). Then, bring the toy back and
record the paw that they touch it with first.
9. For the first two trials after the control setup, the subject should have used
their left side more (despite which side was dominant in the control) because
the right brain (which processes music and face recognition) controls the left
side of the body. Circle in red the results in which dominance was altered by
the subject using the side of the body that correlates to the side of the brain
being stimulated (the left side of the body in this case). In green, circle the
results that differed from the hypothesis stated (example: using the right side

of the body when listening to music after the left side had been used in the
control).
10.For the final two trials, the subject should have used their right side more
because the left brain controls the right side of the body (despite which side
was dominant in the control). The left brain processes language and math.
Circle in red the areas in which the subject used the side of the body that
correlates to the side of the brain being stimulated if altered (the right side of
the body in this case). In green, circle the results that differed from the
hypothesis stated (example: using the left side of the body when doing
mental math problems after the right side had been used in the control).

CONCLUSIONS:
In each external variable added to a number of activities, the subjects dominance
was altered due to the hemisphere of the brain that was active. Yet, this did not
occur consistently or for every activity. When the action required physical strength
(throwing a ball) the dominance was not affected by the external stimuli. One
reason for this could be that muscle memory has been built up over years and is not
easily altered. In less common and less physical actions, such as stepping on the
coin and picking up the coin, the dominance was much more easily influenced. In
addition, the results suggest that for some people an activity may involve the use of
both hemispheres of the brain. For example, Subject 2s results demonstrate that
learning a foreign language stimulates right and left handedness, partially altering
dominance. From the data, it is evident that external stimuli, associated with a
particular brain hemisphere, has the ability to affect dominance, but further

research is needed to understand this more accurately, chart patterns, and develop
a solid theory.