JM SYS AP2

Are there more creativity oriented people in society than analytically and data oriented people?

JM; 2016; Systems and Models

UCMAS; ​ Left brain ­ Right brain​ ; 2016

Question Explanaition:

The main question that I have had about our society for a long time is: “Are their more creative oriented people in society than analytical oriented?” I have always been a person that is watching and observing people because I have always had a general interest in how people express themselves and how they operate within our world. I have noticed and heard from many people in my life that they choose to experience the world in either creative, artistic formats. On the contrary though, I know that plenty of people would rather be active/enjoy the world in logical, factual, and informational formats. I also have seen that people choose to enjoy time in generally 2 different ways: by taking in information/solving problems or by creating/enjoying artsy things. So, I wonder, “What kinds of people is our society comprised of?” Are we a society that consists of minds that enjoy scientific ideas, logic, and analyzation or is it made up of people that enjoy creativity, randomness, and experiencing emotions?

Research:

Research that has been conducted on this topic has focused predominantly on how our brains are configured to operate in a certain way. The whole argument goes back to research conducted by Roger W. Sperry. Sperry (during the 1960s) conducted research that revealed that the human brain operates in two very different ways. One way it operates is in a visual mindset that processes information by looking at things as a whole and then breaking them down into pieces. The other way of operation is a verbal mindset that operates analytically, looking at the small pieces that lead into the larger picture.

The verbal mindset is one that is generally attributed to the left hemisphere of the brain. In this leftern hemisphere, it is said that information is taken in linearly and sequentially, where whatever is being processed by the brain has to be done in a particular order and adds up to a final thing, whether that be a feeling or legitimate object. Left­brained people also are believed to understand and use symbols more often, make decisions based off of logic, have any easier time putting expressing themselves in words, and are more aware of the reality they live in.

On the other hand, the visual mindset is located in the right hemisphere of the brain. This portion of the brain processes things randomly, usually switching between multiple processes that it is involved with till it can complete them all. This can be what often leads to the typical analysis of how a “right­brained” person is unfocused or how they have to look at things from the big picture to the smaller details that make it up.

Right­brained people also prefer to process things in concrete forms. Rather than use symbols, the right­brained person prefers to feel, see, touch, experience what they are learning. Another thing that people who are right­brained are normally attributed is intuitive processing, meaning that they often rely on their “gut” feeling when making decisions. Right­brained people also typically have a harder time putting things into words and often have the ability to think of the world how they want it, they are usually fantasy­oriented and this leads to them being more creative typically. The right­brain is also the top control center for motor skills and instinctual reactions.

Now, all of this comes from research that Roger Sperry and many other psychologist have collected over time. There is tons of conflict over the topic of if this research because it is widely believed that people can’t just be “right­brained” or “left­brained.” And the truth is that it is very unlikely for someone to be completely left­brained or right­brained. The reason for this is that when the research was originally conducted, Roger Sperry was studying people who had epilepsy and had a surgical procedure performed on them that severed the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is a part of the brain that connects the two hemisphere, resulting in the fact that all the patients Sperry was researching had brains whose two hemispheres could not communicate with each other. Because of Sperry and other researchers, the scientific community was able to discover what parts of the brain are involved in different functions that people embark on like drawing, language, and math.

Researchers today have still been researching the brain (thankfully) and have discovered that it is in fact almost impossible for people to be only right­brained or only left­brained. Because of most human being having their corpus callosum in a functioning manor, the two hemispheres of our brain are almost always communicating with each other in everything we do. With this in mind, the investigation that I am conducting is not one about whether their are more “right­brained” or “left­brained” people in our world but rather how many people are creativity/fantasy oriented over data/reality oriented. I want to find out if more people prefer to enjoy creativity as well or if they enjoy the reality of everything.

http://ucmas.ca/our­programs/whole­brain­development/left­brain­vs­right­brain/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/not­born­yesterday/201210/are­you­left­or­right­brain­dominant

http://www.web­us.com/brain/braindominance.htm

http://www.livescience.com/39373­left­brain­right­brain­myth.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/12/02/248089436/the­truth­about­the­left­brain­right­brain­relationship

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/left­brain­right­brain­myth/

https://www.indwes.edu/cli/research/meta­analysis­summary­­­left­brain­vs­right­brain

https://www.braindecoder.com/neil­degrasse­tyson­elegantly­debunk­right­left­brain­myth­1120713524.html

https://arkansashomeschool.org/index.php/free­info/special­needs­students/right­brain­vs­left­brain/

https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions­blog/am­i­left­or­right­brained

http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/545/Right­Brain­Hemisphere.html

http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/blog/2014/07/characteristics­right­brained­child/

http://www.funderstanding.com/brain/right­brain­vs­left­brain/

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/left­brain­right­brain­myth/

Hypothesis:

Because of my research and personal experience, I believe that my results will reveal that society is predominantly creativity oriented. I think this because of how many websites that provide research for this topic are oriented around how to educate people who are “right­brained”. If there are so many places that believe right­brained people are neglected when it comes to education and integration in society, then they must be the most predominant group in our society.

Experiment Details:

Materials needed: Computer Google Forms

Procedure: 1.) Create a Google Form to build your survey on.

2.) Generate questions that are based off of previous research tied to left­brain, right­brain attributes. Also generate questions tied to the drastic differences of how people act in the world, creatively or realistically.

3.) Have other people check your questions to see if they are biased and to make sure they point towards a particular side.

4.) Send out survey to as many people as possible and ask them to share it as well.

5.) Wait for results to pour in.

6.) Analyze data by creating a spectrum scale for each participant, measuring how many creativity oriented questions they answered and how many data/reality oriented responses

Data:

My Survey

Individual Responses Brought onto the Spectrum

Data Analysis: The first image shows the actual survey that I sent out to people. I made sure that each answer on this survey aligned with the traits attributed to the left and right brain. I aimed to avoid bias amongst my results by not telling people that this is an experiment associated with what side of the brain you tend to enjoy or connect with more. I also aimed to avoid bias in this by just posting it on Facebook and asking people to fill it out and share it with others so that I have no clue who filled it out.

I received a lot more responses than I had expected. I received 37 surveys back and each was unique. The pie charts in the data section represent how many of the same responses were sent for each question. Surprisingly, no one chose “whistle along” for the question about when you are listening to a song. I found this interesting because people definitely do it when listening to music and it aligns with the right brain attributes.

Similarly to that, none of the 37 people who participated in the survey fit into the category of complete preference of left­brained things. In fact, any sort of larger alliance towards left­brained preference is very underrepresented. Only 4 people showed interest in predominantly left­brained activities. A lot more people chose right­brained activities but the largest amount of surveyed people represented are neutral preferences people.

The spectrum is important in regards to where people's’ minds decide to gravitate towards, showing how many individuals actual fit into certain attributes of right­brainedness and left­brainedness.

Conclusion:

Most people in our society are neutral to their preference of being neutral in preference of activities related to the left and right brain ideals. My hypothesis was slightly incorrect since the second highest group represented was the right brain. It was only incorrect because humans are all different so it is almost impossible to hypothesize correctly. What I would do differently next time is build a larger survey that was still simplistic but allowed for more interpretation.

Citations ­ EVERYTHING, in MLA or APA, put them in order (alphabetically or chronologically), footnotes or endnotes

Citations:

UCMAS. "Left Brain Vs Right Brain." ​ UCMAS.​ UCMAS, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2016.