The hemispheric dominance of high school students enrolled in selected alternative education programs.

Abstract

Recent research indicates that the two hemispheres of the human brain may process information differently. This hemispheric specialization may explain why some students, whose primary mode of processing is visual or inductive, have difficulty performing certain tasks in left-brain oriented classes. This possibility may be particularly true in that our schools seem to favor verbal, deductive styles of learning. "Brain-incompatible" instruction may contribute to students' poor performance in problem solving which requires dual hemispheric engagement. It seems reasonable to speculate that students experiencing little success in a "brain-incompatible" general education program may be inclined to enroll in alternative education programs. This study focused upon the measurement of the hemispheric dominance of a group of one hundred and ninety-one (191) high school seniors enrolled in general education and alternative education programs in two school districts in Macomb County, Michigan. The factors considered in relationship to dominant hemispheric processing mode were: academic success status, satisfaction with education received, physical coordination, gender, h and edness, speech deficiencies, and reading deficiencies. Hemispheric orientation was measured by the Torrance, Taggart, and Taggart Human Information Processing Survey, Research Edition. This is a forty (40) item self-reporting questionnaire which identifies the subject's dominant processing mode (right, left, or integrated). The second measurement used in this study was a self-reporting Participant Profile developed by the researcher. Chi-square crosstabulation of nominal variables and the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance were used to determine the relationship between hemispheric processing mode and the stated variables. All correlations were found not to be significantly related at the.05 level. It was concluded that a definitive statement relating dominant hemispheric processing mode and the stated variables could not be made based upon the findings of this study. Further research, however, appears to be warranted.