Are you right-brained, left-brained, or whole-brained?

[Embassy]

I've been reading about learning styles for a little while. In one of the books I was reading there was a brain dominance test and I was surprised to find out the results for my family. I thought one son would be right-brained for sure, but he showed firmly as whole-brained.

 

Do you know your brain dominance? Does it impact how you teach? Does it match with your dc's dominance?

[Tabrett]

I have read lots on the subject and because I feel like I have characteristics of both I choose whole.:D

[Gooblink]

How about half-brained?

 

Actually, I'm not sure. Maybe whole brained because I love writing, music, art and creating things, but my work history is computer programming, technical writing and high-tech sales.

 

I've not thought about it. :)

[Tap]

If I answer questions, thinking like I am in every day life...I am very whole brained. I usually test exactly half and half.

 

If I answer questions like I am at work....I am about 75% left brained. LOL It makes sense due to the very logical nature of my job. It is just funny to me when I realize that I would answer a question different if I was at home or at work.

 

If I answer questions like I am doing an art project I am right brain dominate, but not to the extent I am at work. LOL

 

I think I really am whole brained and use which ever side suits the situation best.

 

ETA: The odd thing about this is that if I am deeply into a 'right brained project', I can't switch to left or visa versa. If I am in a situation that requires a lot of creativity, I have a very, very hard time performing other duties that require the logical side. LOL This is not always a good thing.

 

 

Here is a test that is pretty comprehensive and has some explanation at the end.

 

Here is a quick visual test. Is the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

Edited September 18, 2010 by Tap, tap, tap

[Jean in Newcastle]

I vote for hare-brained.

[sweetbasil]

I have mixed dominance (right brained, right handed) which likely caused the major difficulty I had with handwriting. FWIW I have great handwriting now (IMHO) but I write my letters very unconventionally. My oldest also has mixed dominance, but the next two are lefties so they are likely just right-brained. Don't know about the baby yet.

 

DH is left brained so he's outnumbered!

[Mom22ns]

 

Here is a test that is pretty comprehensive and has some explanation at the end.

 

Here is a quick visual test. Is the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

 

Hmmm I tried both of these. The quick test said I'm right brained. The long test said 59% left 41% right.

 

I think I'll just go with brainless.

[1bassoon]

I was going for "no-brained".

 

:D

[In The Great White North]

The dancer was going counterclockwise, stopped and started going clockwise! (No I didn't do it on purpose.) What's up with that?

[MamaSheep]

I generally come out as "whole brained" on tests, but honestly I don't think my whole brain has been functional for years. I guess that means both sides are equally impaired...or something...lol.

 

To answer your other question, I don't think I consciously do anything particular in my teaching because of my brain dominance, but now that I stop to think about it I think being whole brained comes in handy with my kids, one of whom is very strongly left-brained, and the other of whom is extremely right-brained. Mister Logic and Miss Artsy.

Edited September 18, 2010 by MamaSheep

[FO4UR]

I'm right-brained.

 

The dancer in the link went clockwise, and I had to actually move my finger along with her in order to figure out if what I was seeing was clockwise or counterclockwise.

 

I'm a musician. I get lost driving in my own home town. I'm a classic case.:D

[dripdripsplat]

Left-brained, but it's REALLY close.

[Mommy22alyns]

According to the long test, I'm 63% left-brained.

[LarlaB]

The dancer was going counterclockwise, stopped and started going clockwise! (No I didn't do it on purpose.) What's up with that?

 

My DD6 said the same thing, even though I can only see her going counter-clockwise. ;)

[Mommyfaithe]

There is no check box for lame-brained. Which is what I am lately....sigh...so I picked don't know.

 

Faithe

[SailorMom]

Oddly - and I would have guessed otherwise - when tested I came out almost completely 50/50.

[LizzyBee]

I am extremely left-brained. Analytical, detail oriented, and zero creativity.

 

My oldest dd is whole-brained. She is creative and artsy, but analytical and concrete too.

 

My second dd is extremely visual-spatial (right-brained) with SPD. She has never been diagnosed with autism/aspergers, but I think she's borderline. I have definitely adapted curriculum to fit her over the years.

 

My third dd is dyslexic with APD, SPD, ADHD, and working memory deficits, which would make you think right-brained. However, she has both left and right brain weaknesses, and I'm still not sure how she's going to turn out.

Edited September 19, 2010 by LizzyBee

[Parrothead]

 

Here is a test that is pretty comprehensive and has some explanation at the end.

 

Here is a quick visual test. Is the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

According to both tests I'm guessing it is whole brained.

 

The first one I tested at 42% left/58% right.

 

When I first saw the dancer she was turning clockwise. I blinked and she started going counter-clockwise. Then I looked at her foot and she changed directions again. Then I got a headache, and quit the website.

[Margo out of lurking]

The short test said right brained; the long test said left brained. I'm definitely left brained, but for heaven's sake, when I saw this thread, all I could think is that I'm NO brained.:tongue_smilie:

[jenL]

I'm thinking maybe whole-brained???

 

According to the long test, I'm 58% left / 42% right

 

However, according to the dancer, I'm right-brained. Yet, if I shifted my eyes, I could see her turning counter-clockwise too. So, that may mean whole?

 

I'm so tired right now that I'm amazed my brain is functioning at all! :D

[elise1mds]

I guess maybe I'm whole-brained. It's an odd one. I took the long test, and it said 65% left-brained/35% right-brained. Pretty definitive, right? I looked at the visual test, though, and that dancer is DEFINITELY going clockwise. I can't make her go the other way to save my life.

 

I'm left-handed for writing and eating and right-handed for sports. I'm a switch hitter for baseball and can use either hand dominant in golf, and both those facts drove my dad insane when I was a child.

 

Go figure. :)

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

Right now I am dead brained.:D

Did not vote.

Too tired to think.

But not too tired to be "cheeky.":D

[Melissa in Australia]

I just had to do some tests to find out if I was right brained or left brained for my uni course.

I did 4 tests, first said right brained, next 2 said right in the middle, and the last one left brained.

I find the tests are very limiting. I am dyslexic, so suspect my brain is working a different way.

 

I always wonder about my father, which is he, he is extremely left handed, and has all his internal organs back to front to most people. His appendix was on the wrong side his heart on the other side etc. etc. I wonder if his brain is opposite as well, so he might come out as right brained, but that really means left brained.

[mcconnellboys]

I am left handed and left brained. My older son is right handed and right brained....

[Tree House Academy]

I was going for "no-brained".

 

:D

 

LOL this was my first thought too! haha

[Caitilin]

65% left, 35% right. Right handed. :)

[Joker]

I took the first quiz linked and was 55% left brained and 45% right brained. My dh took it and was 51% left brained and 49% right brained. It was interesting because when broken down we were almost completely opposite in what most most/least dominant. We were both left brained in the second link - she was going counter clockwise to us both.

[mjpeter]

Counter-clockwise for the dancer, and 59% Left 41% Right for the other test.

 

I'm thinking my engineer husband would be 99% to 1%. :lol:

[jkwynn]

55% left, 45% right

 

But I can switch the dancer back and forth pretty easily.

[Mrs Mungo]

67% right, 33% left.

 

I can make the dancer spin either way, but that's because I'm *capable* of using either side of my brain. But, it isn't my preference.

 

I'm not going to post all my results, only this bit:

 

Your Reality-based Analysis

You process information with a basis in reality, but are not limited to it. You may recognize the repercussions of you actions, but proceed to do something anyway, in the heat of the moment. You can complete projects to which you are emotionally attached as well as random tasks.

 

 

Ha-ha! SO true! Is that bad?

[FO4UR]

I'm not going to post all my results, only this bit:

 

 

 

 

Ha-ha! SO true! Is that bad?

 

I don't think you should let your dh see that bit...:tongue_smilie::lol:.

[Mrs Mungo]

I don't think you should let your dh see that bit...:tongue_smilie::lol:.

 

D'oh!! I called him upstairs to tell him about it. See the problem? :tongue_smilie:

[FO4UR]

D'oh!! I called him upstairs to tell him about it. See the problem? :tongue_smilie:

 

Yes, I see. You know your reality...if dh has this ammo of info in his pocket, he WILL use it. But, you just act in the moment....

 

Do I sound like I'm talking to myself?...predicting my own fate? :001_huh::lol:

 

sigh...

[Forget-Me-Not]

The long test said 58% left, 42% right. But the dancer spins clockwise for me and I can't make myself see otherwise, LOL. So I'm guessing closer to whole-brain? But who knows.

 

(and am I the only one wondering why the dancer was illustrated with 'high beams' if you KWIM?)

[Peela]

I really don't know. I am left handed and creative. However I am quite capable of science and maths within reason as well. Fairly well rounded.

 

You know those funny "magic" pictures where they look like one thing but where supposedly if you stare at them long enough you can see a completely different picture there? I have never, ever been able to see the other picture- ever- and I refuse to even look at another one because I get so frustrated. Everyone I know can do them, except me. DH teases me about it and reckons it is because I am so right brained or intellectual- heady- I cant relax my brain enough, apparently :glare:

[Kathleen in VA]

That dancer test is boggling my mind. She's definitely spinning clockwise for me. I tried to concentrate and make her go counter-clockwise, but cannot do it. I'm having trouble understanding how anyone can see that girl spinning counter-clockwise - it just doesn't seem like that's even possible, yet several of you have stated that you do. It's mystifying to me.

[nukeswife]

I voted "Don't Know" because the long test said I was 60% left/ 40% Right. I'm right handed, but I could make the dancer spin either way. She started going clockwise, then the website blinked after it finished loading and she was going counter clockwise, then I blinked and she was back to clockwise.

[lisamarie]

The test says I am 44% left/56% right, so I take that as being whole-brained.

[TXMomof4]

I just had to do some tests to find out if I was right brained or left brained for my uni course.

I did 4 tests, first said right brained, next 2 said right in the middle, and the last one left brained.

I find the tests are very limiting. I am dyslexic, so suspect my brain is working a different way.

.

 

I test as whole brain with a slight tendency to right brain. I'm left handed for writing and fine motor skills, but right handed for throwing a ball, swinging a bat, mopping, etc. I'm right eye dominant.

 

My brother is the exact same way.

 

I'm very strong in reading, vocabulary, spelling - etc. My brother is dyslexic and struggles with academic type situations. However, his problem solving skills are amazing. Just dealing with his dyslexia (which wasn't well-treated when he was a child) is an exercise in problem solving. Makes me curious about a lack of brain dominance and dyslexia.

 

ETA

I just went to google brain-dominance and dyslexia and I don't have the slightest idea what I'm talking about apparently. I do love that this board has me reading the thesis of some guy from Australia on brain dominance and dyslexia. I exhausted now.

[RoughCollie]

The comprehensive test result: 48% Left, 52% Right.

 

I hope that means I have a whole brain. Sometimes I'm not sure. :001_smile:

 

My least dominant left brain characteristic is "reality based", 14%. So that's the problem! Maybe that explains some of the harebrained ideas I come up with.

 

RC

Edited September 19, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Matryoshka]

The spinning dancer is freaking me out too. She started out spinning counter-clockwise, quite clearly. Then either the computer or my brain had a glitch, and she paused, and when she started up again she was clockwise, and I can't get her to go the other way again! :001_huh:

 

I've always thought I was farily whole-brained. The test had me with a small left-brain dominance - left was in the 50's and right in the 40's.

[sbgrace]

I did the dancer thing with my kids. One was left brained and the other right which I would have predicted based on their learning styles. I don't know what I am. I scored left on the quiz but the dancer was going counter and then suddenly clockwise.

Edited September 19, 2010 by sbgrace

[Teachin'Mine]

Got the same results as Rough Collie - 48/52. So whole brained, but often half brained too. :tongue_smilie:

 

As far as the dancer - I can't figure what to click on to get her to spin at all. It looks, from the stationary picture, that she'd turn counter-clockwise but I guess I need to revisit the link and see if I can get it to spin today.

 

Got it spinning on a different site - counter-clockwise at first, then changed to clockwise.

 

My dh and dd were exact opposites. Dh 53/47 and dd 47/53. Is anyone taking the test getting radically different right and left results?

Edited September 19, 2010 by Teachin'Mine

[Perry]

Dan Willingham has a blog post about this today:

Willingham: Left/right brain theory is bunk

[Rich with Kids]

Dancer spun both ways and then exploded...Is that weird?

 

ETA: My results for the test were 50/51. How is that possible? Took it again. This time it was 48/52. Still confused.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Rich with Kids

[ChristusG]

I guess I'm whole brained.....I definitely have characteristics of both. The test said that I'm 48% left brained and 52% right brained....that's pretty close. In my mind, I think I lean more towards being right brained. I dislike math, don't often think logically, etc.

[Mrs Mungo]

Dan Willingham has a blog post about this today:Willingham: Left/right brain theory is bunk

 

But, I don't *think* anyone here is taking it literally. I think they understand it means what he says here:

 

Sometimes I hear hear the terms “left-brain thinkers†or “right brain thinkers†as a shorthand to describe people who are drawn to more logical, ordered ways of thinking, in contrast to more “artsy†types. It’s understood that there is not meant to be any scientific weight to the labels. They are just a convenience.

[TravelingChris]

Well I am not really surprised that I turned out to be more left brained with logical thinking being my strongest skill. I am an INTJ after all. But the whole dancer thing was freaky. My college student son said that had more to do with eye dominance and I think it is probably true. I know one of my eyes is never corrected to 20/20. I mostly saw it going clockwise but a few times saw it go the other way.

[KidsHappen]

I scored 52% right - 48% left. The dancer starts clockwise for me but I can make it go either way and I can also stop action it to see what it is actually doing. If you are only seeing it one way, try diverting your attention to reading for a minute and then look back at it and see if it changed directions. If you are really curious, you can look up stop action graphics on it to see what it is really doing. Even after seeing the explanation my hubby and one of my dd were not able to see it going in one direction (although it was different for each of them).

[DarlaS]

Well I am not really surprised that I turned out to be more left brained with logical thinking being my strongest skill. I am an INTJ after all. But the whole dancer thing was freaky. My college student son said that had more to do with eye dominance and I think it is probably true. I know one of my eyes is never corrected to 20/20. I mostly saw it going clockwise but a few times saw it go the other way.

 

I am 70/30 in favor of the left side of my brain and that dancer turns counterclockwise for me. Very rarely does she turn left and I have never been able to get her to swap directions. (I am an INSJ with a very weak score on the S.)

 

I have a feeling your son is right (or should I say his theory sounds logical to me! :D).

 

Oh, and I don't think eye dominance has anything to do with how good your vision is. Which eye would you use to look through a monocular instrument (like a spy glass or microscope)? That is your dominant eye.