Maria G. Rocha

Left Brain Characteristics

Left Brain Traits

Left brains are seen as "smarter" and tend to be

analytical,
logical,
sequential.

They do things in the "proper" order and feel there is a proper order.

They tend to do well in

reading,
writing,
speech and
math.

These subject areas have "sequential rules" and they respond to this. Lefts also naturally evaluate what's wrong and why it won't work. They are sensitive to flaws of self and others almost to the point of not being able to accept a person because of their flaws. They tend to not see the whole person but the flaw(s). The world is linear to them. The left-brained person doesn't see the end result and needs to go through the steps, one-by-one and sees the big picture when all the little steps are completed.

Word Association

On a spelling test, the left hears the word "dog." They quickly write d-o-g and wait for the next word. Usually, without doodling or looking around the room. Focusing is usually not a problem.

Careers

Left brains tend to choose careers in

law,
accounting,
science.

These careers are exacting and have many rules and regulations. This is right up their alley.

Skeptical
Lefts are skeptical of anything new. It can be a new invention, work schedule, or a new appliance. They resist anything new and untried. They defend the familiar and ordinary and are likely to say, "This is how we do it here." When a new concept is mentioned, they are likely to say, "Why change things? What's wrong with the way we are doing things?" These are the people that come home from work and get upset that the furniture has been rearranged. "What was wrong with things they way they were?"

Some have called lefts the gatekeepers to new ideas. They stand at the proverbial gate ensuring that "None of those new ideas get past me!"

Speech and Music

Left-brained individuals tend to be non-verbal. Their voices tend to be on the monotone side and they don't often use their hands while speaking. They don't usually talk in excess. Why say a paragraph when three words will do? They also enjoy classical music.

As Teachers

Their teaching style reflects their own learning style so they use:

lecture,
explanation
discussion,
rationalization,
debate,
reasoning,
talk.

That's how they learn, so that's how they teach. They get frustrated with the rights and think they aren't trying to understand. They don't realize that "they" are the source of a right's frustration. They are going against the grain of a right brain.

New Ideas

Since lefts are not very good about thinking "out of the box", they rarely come up with innovative or creative ideas. When they do, it is likely that it is an idea of a right-brain that was abandoned or stolen. Once the idea has been mentioned, a left may be able to use the information and actually make the plan work. However, without the right brain, they would have never created it.

It is obvious that lefts and rights need to team up and work together. One side completes the other.

Right Brain Characteristics

Right Brain Traits

Right brains are honored in eastern cultures more than western. They are seen as less smart because of the manner in which they process information. Rights don't go from Point A to Point B. Right brains don't like to listen to directions and don't like to read them. They scan quickly and figure out what to do without reading details. Reading directions carefully is a detailed activity for the left-brain.

How Rights Learn

Rights think and learn in visual, kinesthetic and audio images. They don't memorize well and need to visualize a picture so they can recall the facts. Abstract math is often not brain compatible. Their thoughts are frequently in code and they may have bizarre images in night dreams leaving them confused as to what they mean.

When right brains talk to you, they look at you while listening and look away to the left when answering a question. This is a brain shift from one side to another. This is not a sign of fabrication. They are listening with one side and now switch over for the response. They are not creating an answer in an attempt to deceive.

Rights Are Misunderstood

Right brains don't explain what they feel well and are misunderstood. They think of one thing, say another because their brain has already moved on to another thought. Unfortunately, their mouth is still moving. Rights often don't realize they have done so. The result is that they don't realize what they said and may even deny saying it or argue they said something else. Because they know what they "intended" to say, they are confused when individuals state otherwise.

See The Big Picture

Right brains don't like to jump through the hoops to get something done. They also don't like to follow rules which don't make sense to them. They see the big picture quickly and what you are asking them to do in steps doesn't seem necessary because they are at the end of the process already.

Right brains are non-judgmental and often have no opinion on many topics. They can see both sides and are often seen as wishy washy or lacking values. They see the whole person and are less likely to condemn a person because of a flaw. They often have an interesting group of friends.

Careers

Rights select careers as:

entrepreneurs,
athletes,
sales,
artists,
musician,
craftsmen,
dancers.

Trusting

Rights are trusting--too trusting. They easily have patents and ideas stolen from them, usually to a left. Lefts know how to use an idea. They just can't come up with them on their own.

Speech and Music

Rock and Roll music is preferred by rights. They are also easily distracted by music. Baroque music is soothing for a right. Music by Yanni, Enya, and Mozart are good for right brain waves. Their speaking voice may have a singing quality and their faces may be quite animated when talking. They often use their hands when they speak and may have difficulty speaking if they are not allowed to use their hands. Right brained teachers often move around the room while speaking and leave standing still behind the podium for the left brains.

As Teachers

As teachers, right brains are non-evaluative. They don't like giving grades and would rather see people just show them results. Their teaching style reflects their own learning style so they use:

stories,
diagrams,
pictures,
drawings,
skits,
educational games,
gestures,
elicit action from students,
demonstrations, and
illustrations.

That's how they learn, so that's how they teach.

New Ideas

Right brains embrace new ideas. They are future thinkers and enjoy introducing controversial ideas. They believe that everything is possible, tend to be very creative, and don't see the pitfalls along the way. They leave those little details to the lefts.

Differences Between Left and Right Hemisphere

One way of looking at learning styles is to determine your hemispheric dominance. Are you more right brained or left brained? We know that the cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that houses rational functions. It is divided into two hemispheres connected by a thick band of nerve fibers (the corpus callosum) which sends messages back and forth between the hemispheres. And while brain research confirms that both sides of the brain are involved in nearly every human activity, we do know that the left side of the brain is the seat of language and processes in a logical and sequential order. The right side is more visual and processes intuitively, holistically, and randomly. Most people seem to have a dominant side. A key word is that our dominance is a preference, not an absolute. When learning is new, difficult, or stressful we PREFER to learn in a certain way. It seems that our brain goes on autopilot to the preferred side. And while nothing is entirely isolated on one side of the brain or the other, the characteristics commonly attributed to each side of the brain serve as an appropriate guide for ways of learning things more efficiently and ways of reinforcing learning. Just as it was more important for our purposes to determine that memory is stored in many parts of the brain rather than learn the exact lobe for each part, likewise it is not so much that we are biologically right brain or left brain dominant, but that we are more comfortable with the learning strategies characteristics of one over the other. What you are doing is lengthening your list of strategies for learning how to learn and trying to determine what works best for you. You can and must use and develop both sides of the brain. But because the seat of our preferences probably has more neural connections, learning may occur faster. This section will look a t some differences between left and right brain preferences. Be on the look out for practical strategies that work for you.
Let's begin with a few basics. First, no one is totally left-brained or totally right-brained. Just as you have a dominant hand, dominant eye, and even a dominant foot, you probably have a dominant side of the brain. Second, you can and must develop both sides of your brain. Click on the link to an inventory which helps you determine the balance of your hemispheres.

Hemispheric Dominance Inventory