A refined neurobehavioral inventory of hemispheric preference

Abstract

With the advent and rapid growth of neuropsychology has come the need for reliable and valid measures of neuropsychological behaviors. The inventory described in this article measures neurobehavioral preference based on theoretical assumptions and previous research findings in the field, such as brain localization and cerebral hemispheric dominance. The inventory consists of 12 items, each of which has 4 statements that relate to four different functions of the two hemispheres, namely: (a) Left, logical; (b) Left, verbal; (c) Right, manipulative/spatial; and (d) Right, creative. A separate measure for left and right preference can be obtained by adding (a) and (b) and (c) and (d), respectively. Administration and scoring take only a few minutes. Statistical analysis shows that the results were in the predicted direction when six different criterion groups were used (e.g., artists, nurses, and teachers). The instrument appears suitable for use in personality research, counseling activities, or management techniques.

Hemispheric Laterality and Self-Rated Personality Traits

“…Some authors, however, caution that claims concerning hemispheric dominance often exceed the scientific evidence and verge on "dichotomania" (10, p. 96). One difficulty is that many studies of personality and hernispheric dominance have been based on somewhat circular logic, using theory to define a set of behaviors that are believed to be associated with each hemisphere's preferred style (7,15), and then using this set of behaviors as evidence that each hemisphere is indeed using a different processing strategy (8). A more sound methodology would be to use indices of cerebral laterality that do not depend on personahty descriptors for their definition.…”

Personality Differences and Computer Related Stress in Business Students

“…There is no clear agreement on learning style theory or measurement. Learning style has been measured using a variety of instruments (Dunn, Dunn, and Price 1989;Edwards 1986;Herrmann 1988;Kagen et al 1964;Karp and Konstadt 1971;Kolb 1976;Leiberman 1986;Myers and McCaulley 1985;Raudsepp 1992;Wagner and Wells 1985). One popular approach used to explore basic This study initially documents a relationship between course of study (factor) and anxiety caused by technology (outcome).…”

Cognitive strategy following unilateral stroke: Lesion-induced hemisphericity?

“…Nonetheless, Swenson and Tucker found an association between self-reported hemispheric preference and self-reported emotional orientation. Wagner and Wells (1985) also proposed a self-report inventory purportedly evaluating hemispheric preference and reported that their instrument correctly classified six criterion reference groups (e.g., undergraduates taking a course in logic, nurses, musicians, and creative writers) according to their predicted characteristics (students = left hemisphere–logical; writers = left hemisphere–verbal and right hemisphere–creative; nurses = right hemisphere–manipulative; musicians = right hemisphere–creative, respectively). None of these self-report measures of hemisphericity, however, has been convincingly validated with reference to actual behavior.…”