Left, Right, and Wrong Brain

[Jugga J]

few others were as well as far as I can tell from the sources.

- Michaelangelo, probably would have had to have been as sculpting requires the use of both hands equally skilled for certain angles.

- Nikola Tesla was born left-handed and then became ambidextrous.

- Leonardo (as you have mentioned)

- Benjamin Franklin

- Albert Einstein (disputed; Claimed by some individuals and websites to be left-handed, (little proof; started speaking late as a child and attended Catholic elementary school; supposed left hand suppression) but photos show him writing on a blackboard with his right hand; and also, playing violin with his right hand. So disputed)

Correlation between intelligent individuals and ambidexterity? Possibly....

[Brutha]

Correlation between intelligent individuals and ambidexterity? Possibly.

A quick google seach provides me with: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=re...T4MIy3rez66iHw
Their result is that it ambidexterity provides no significant mental ability gain or loss. In addition they note that the general theory rather associates disadvantages with ambidexterity than advantages.

You don't get good data by locking at Einstein and co. when you search for general mental patterns.

[Mike Estep]

Brutha,

The study you refer to does indeed indicate no generalized positive correlation linking ambidexterity and cognitive abilities. However, it is important to look at the source of data and research methods to determine context with such studies.

The authors reexamined data from studies done with children where the children were required to do 3 very short tasks...

• Tick as many squares as possible on a printed sheet with the left hand, repeating this procedure with the right (both in a 1-minute time period)
• Bouncing and catching a ball 10 times (making note of which hands were used)
• Timing the picking up of 20 matches (making note of which hands were used)

Therefore, while this study may point to a lack of latent positive relationships between ambidexterity and cognitive ability in children performing minimal general tasks, it does not directly examine relationships in tasks requiring years of study and practice. However, the authors of this particular study do mention another study in relating ambidexterity and cognitive ability in 52 pianists while sight reading where a positive correlation is found.

On the matter of extrapolating behavior from particular geniuses (Einstein and company) to the general public...

I believe it is important to know whether certain forms of mental exercise, practiced over a period of years can produce genius effects in the general public. I have contemplated my own intuitive thoughts and studied both academic and nonacademic resources on the matter for over 2 decades. I have also personally observed anecdotal results of certain ways of thinking with over 2500 private music students (from all walks of life) during this time. As a result, I am convinced it is possible for most people to learn genius behavior with sufficient training and practice.

It will take many formal studies for the academic community to determine reliable conclusions on the matter, but research has to start somewhere. Therefore, it is appropriate to ask questions and hypothesize the possibility of whether such relationships exist. This is one of the reasons I conducted my PhD dissertation and contemplated related questions in my research. It is also a reason why the academic community validated my research through publication.

Mike

[Brutha]

Originally Posted by Mike Estep

However, the authors of this particular study do mention another study in relating ambidexterity and cognitive ability in 52 pianists while sight reading where a positive correlation is found.

Kopiez et al. (2006) analyse the relationship between one form of musical ability (sight reading) and a continuous measure of laterality with a sample of 52 pianists. They find a significantly higher level of performance by non-right-handers.

I don't think that non-right-handers means ambidexterity here.

On the matter of extrapolating behavior from particular geniuses (Einstein and company) to the general public...

I believe it is important to know whether certain forms of mental exercise, practiced over a period of years can produce genius effects in the general public.

I also think that it is important that know such things. But you can't conclude based on that genius X had trait Y that developing trait Y will make you a genuis.
The majority of people with trait Y, might be no genuises.
In addition trait Y may be a sideeffect of the factor Z that makes you a genuises.
Developent Y through through another way than Z would mean gaining no effect.

I have contemplated my own intuitive thoughts and studied both academic and nonacademic resources on the matter for over 2 decades.
I have also personally observed anectdotal results of certain ways of thinking with over 2500 private music students (from all walks of life) during this time. As a result, I am convinced it is possible for most people to learn genius behavior with sufficient training and practice.
[...]It is also a reason why the academic community validated my research through publication.

I don't criticise your "Developing-Intuition"-excercises, I think that they could work.
I think that your reasons for doing them should be: "Intution is a worthwhile trait to have".
The word left (as in left-brain) isn't even in your paper.

[Mike Estep]

Brutha,

Actually, the rest of the quote you mention refers to ambidexterity specifically (I bolded text for emphasis)...

Quote

Kopiez et al. (2006) analyse the relationship between one form of musical ability (sight reading) and a continuous measure of laterality with a sample of 52 pianists. They find a significantly higher level of performance by non-right-handers. Importantly, they find evidence of a non-linear inverted “U” shaped relationship between the outcome of interest and a measure of laterality (see their Figure 4). Fitting a quadratic curve, they find that the peak corresponds to a value of laterality close to 0. In other words it is the ambidextrous that do best: there is a cognitive surplus at the point of “hemispheric indecision”.

End Quote

I also find it ironic that you are referring to a paper that specifically talks about brain lateralization and hemispheres in regards to hand dominance (left hand - right hemisphere, right hand - left hemisphere) when you don't agree with my views on brain hemispheres having specialized functions that at times are seperately used. Even the name of the paper refers to ambidexterity as hemispheric indecision...

"Cognitive Ability and Hemispheric Indecision: Two Surpluses and a Deficit"

I agree that a person can't conclude solely that if a genius has a certain tendency, that means the tendency is automatically generalized to the public. My thoughts on this matter are not based upon a sole thought. Instead they are based upon years of contemplation and study of anecdotal and empirical evidence.

You are also correct that my academic paper (based on my dissertation) doesn't mention functionality of brain hemispheres. I didn't find it necessary to mention this subject in relation to my study. However, that doesn't negate my theories on the matter or the existence of the concept. When writing a dissertation, it's important to be very narrow in focus or the work can easily become too large and scattered. I could have included several other subject areas related to my study and ended up with a work of over 1000 pages. Even staying narrowly focused, my original dissertation was over 240 pages long. The reason I mentioned and provided a link to my academic paper in the first place was for people who were interested in reading my research on mnemonic imagery since I referred to this area in the 3rd part of my right-brain training series.

My last post was speaking generally about questions related to genius (of which I do mention in my paper using the term virtuosos). Seperate from my paper, I also consider genius to possibly be related to both ambidexterity and brain hemisphere functions.

Mike

[Mike Estep]

Welcome to part 4 of my right-brain training series. In my previous article (part 3), I discussed the use of the imagination and mnemonic imagery representing reality-based material. Imagination was defined as: Mental images/concepts not actually present to the senses, but representing a reproduction of an existing reality or creation of a new reality. Mnemonic imagery was described as: Using the imagination as a memory tool to better store mental information for easy retrieval at a later date. With practice, mnemonic imagery can be used to recreate images representing real-life experiences with all sensory perception and emotion involved, which in turn helps to make storage and retrieval of the information more productive. It was also discussed that creativity was a side benefit to the use of mnemonic imagery. Imagery has to be created to exist in the mind. In this article, I will discuss the benefits and use of mnemonic imagery with nonsensical or cartoon-like images.

I’ve found it interesting to note that mnemonic imagery has existed in various forms for centuries with excellent results – yet there are still many people today that don’t know it exists, or have very little knowledge about it (let alone practical experience). Mnemonic imagery was used extensively by the Greeks during the Golden Age and by the Italians during the Renaissance period. I don’t think it is a coincidence that there were great leaps in human intelligence and creativity during these periods of time. There has also been more recent anecdotal and empirical research spanning decades showing the significance of mnemonic imagery in the acquisition of knowledge in several fields of study (e.g., medicine, law, math, language, art, music, etc.). In other words, it works and is worth pursuing. In relation to this article, I’ll first discuss common mnemonic imagery methods such as LINKING, PEGGING, and SUBSTITUTION (KEYWORD). Then I’ll give examples of usage with nonsensical (cartoon-like) images.

Linking involves imagining an item to be remembered that is associated with another item to be remembered using some combination of sensory perception, emotion, action, and exaggeration. Multiple items can be linked together in this fashion.

Pegging involves using imagined preset locations, or pegs, as mental storage areas. Items to be remembered are linked to these pegs. Pegging can enable the recall of information in multiple orders (e.g., forward, backward, isolated). Pegs commonly used include mental representations of:

- Numbers and pictures (e.g., 1 = tree, 2 = light switch, 3 = stool, etc.)
- Numbers, phonemes, and pictures (e.g., 1 = T = Tie, 2 = N = Noah, 3 = M = Ma, etc.)
- Objects in a room or landmarks along a path (Method of Loci)
- Distinctive physical characteristics of an object (e.g., linking personal names to peoples facial
features)

In both linking and pegging, items to be remembered have a concrete representation. However, some information that needs to be remembered is abstract and not directly represented with any specific sensory perception. The method of substitution (keyword) can be used in these cases. Abstractions can be made concrete by substituting them with concrete imagery that bears some sensory similarity to the abstraction. For example, the personal name Mark is an abstraction that could be substituted with a mental image of the keywords magic marker.

The methods mentioned above could be used mostly with reality-based images, but the purpose of this article is to show you how this relates to nonsensical imagery. So, I’ll now give specific examples of how I could use linking, pegging, and substitution with cartoon-like images.

Linking

Let’s say I wanted to remember the order of 6 playing cards: Jack of diamonds, 2 of clubs, 3 of spades, ace of diamonds, queen of hearts, and the king of clubs. I could create a nonsensical mental story linking them together like this…

-The jack of diamonds is kicking the 2 of clubs.
-The 2 of clubs is dancing on the 3 of spades.
-The 3 of spades is belly bucking with the ace of diamonds.
-The ace of diamonds is licking the face of the queen of hearts.
-The queen of hearts slaps the king of clubs.

Pegging

Let’s say I already memorized the following pegs: 1 = tree (trunk shaped like 1), 2 = light switch (on-off), 3 = stool (3 legs), 4 = car (4 tires), 5 = glove (five fingers). I could use these pegs to store a list such as grocery items (eggs, milk, bread, butter, sugar) by linking to the pegs…

1. eggs (tree is smashing millions of eggs)
2. milk (light switch is throwing gallons of milk)
3. bread (stool is shuffling and dealing slices of bread)
4. butter (car is swimming in butter)
5. sugar (glove is pummeling and busting open sugar bags)

Substitution

Personal names can be more abstract and need a few more steps to make imagery concrete. Let’s say I previously memorized 5 first names (3 female, 2 male) with substituted images: Angela = angel, Clara = clarinet, Kathy = cat, Mark = magic marker, Ralph = raft. Now these names can be linked. When associating these names with faces, it is usually best to pick out distinguishing bodily characteristics as pegs (You don’t have to tell people what you are doing, they may not understand and take offense. Just remember, this is for the purpose of creatively memorizing.). So let’s say people that I’ve just met with the same before-mentioned names have the following characteristics: Angela has a flaming red hair, Clara has thick glasses, Kathy has a big smile, Mark has a large nose, and Ralph has a dimpled chin. These characteristics can be used as pegs. Now I can link the names to the pegs nonsensically...

-Angela: Angel with red hair on fire
-Clara: Clarinet breaking thick glasses
-Kathy: Exaggerated smiling Cheshire cat
-Mark: Magic marker writing all over big nose
-Ralph: Raft capsizing in dimples

This all seems silly doesn’t it? That’s exactly the point. It’s very creative to think this way and it greatly aids in recall of the information later. I’ve heard people say they don’t have a vivid enough imagination to create such imagery. If you the reader feel this way, then I must tell you that most people can indeed learn to use mnemonic imagery in this fashion. However, it takes dedicated practice to become fluent at it. There are many places you can find more information on mnemonics. An internet site you can start at is http://www.mindtools.com.

This will conclude my series of articles on right-brain training (however, I'll still be available for discussion on this forum). I hope you’ve found the information interesting, informative, and thought provoking. For those of you that will consistently work at putting the discussed topics into practice, you will tap into a world of immense right-brain creativity – the stuff that genius is made of. This world has actually always been available to you. It’s just a matter of arming yourself with the skills to release your latent abilities.

Mike Estep Ph.D.
______________________________________________

Mike Estep.com - Common Sense Outside the Box

[Angelwings]

heya Mike,

I ve been reading your thread for the last 2 weeks now. i find it rather interesting because i ll be sitting my Summer exams next tuesday; I m finding ways to improve my memory to help memorise very difficult material.

I m currently studying Pharmacy, Its my 3rd year now. I ve been struggling in my course for d last 3years because i find it extremely difficult to memorise. Getting into this course was pretty easy for me in high school especially i took subjects like Geography , Biology, Art history..I can memorise it by imagining because all these subjects allows alot of room for imagination because its related to objects. I understand using the pegs, linking system but i think it can work for OBJECTS but not for something like Maths or Chemistry something we dont see but were told its out der.

The materials in Pharmacy is alot harder i think because for example Chemistry.. That is no room for imagination especially when it comes to remember CHEMICAL NAMES and Drugs names.
When i sit to memorise the materials I stopped using my imagination. It takes a long time for me to get it stick in my brain.I wud have to re-read it over and over again for many days before i can remember. Hence study is really slow for me and I m not doing too well in college because its too much to remember and study is really boring for me.
Is der a faster way to remember??

Here's an example of things i have to know for next week.Its Pharmacology and Herbal Med. It takes a long time to remember i need to re-read it over and over again to have it

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)

Volatile oil contains mono- and sesquiterpenes
Flavonoids, polyphenols; Rosmarinic acid
Sedative and antispasmodic, effects proven
only in rodent studies
Antihormonal (antithyroid)
Also useful topically in HSV-I, proven efficacy


and also:


Classes of synthetic anticancer agents

Alkylating agents
a. nitrogen mustards: Mechlorethamine, Cyclophosphamide,
Chlorambucil
b. sulfonic acid ester: Busulfan
c. hydrazines : procarbazine
Antimetabolites and nucleoside analogues: 5-Fluorouracil

Cyclophosphamide-Nitrogen lone pair delocalised on the phosphamide group.
Therefore less available to form aziridinium ions.
More water soluble
Necessitate metabolic activation (PRODRUG)

So hard to memorise!!etcss....

I think d pegging ,Linkings would work really well in recalling objects. But how does it applies to something with less logic???
I memorise all by writing it over and over again, reading it out loud and having to re-read it for many days. Is der a faster way? especially having to to memorise an essay? I can play the piano. I am fast at memorising certain things but only be able to retain the information for few days after dat i forget it and cannot recall the information. I want to be able to remember for longer. I did tried Mindmapping it works for things i can draw but doesnt work for things that is not an object.

Oops sorry i know its getting long.Hope i make sense of wat i was on about.
Thanks for posting up this thread. I do believe our brain is capable for alot more abilities than we think. Most of us, dont know how to use it.
Interesting thing about my ability is to be able to play many songs without musicsheets infront of me and be able to remember d songs for a long time eventhough i didnt played the song in ages. Some friends of mine started playing d piano since 4 yrs old and earlier than me must have musicsheets infront. I find it rather interesting because i ve been only playing d piano for 6years.That's really strange, dont u think??

Angelwings.

[Mark Lapierre]

Angelwings, perhaps you might benefit from Scott H Young's description of his learning style. He's also written a short eBook.

[Mike Estep]

Angelwings,

The info that Mark Lapierre links to (thanks Mark) is relevant and may prove useful.

The particular material you are describing is abstract and would require the use of the substitution method I mentioned in my previous post. This means using something that sounds similar to the actual material you want to memorize to provide you with concrete mental objects.

For Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) you could imagine the following objects: Lemon, ball, melons, and office. Then connect this as a story: The lemon throws a ball that splatters melons all over the office. All of your abstract pharmacy terms can be memorized in this fashion.

There is a book that uses substitution in this manner including pictures called...

The Phunny Pharm: The Ultimate Pharmacology Study (isbn 1560531142)

From what I've read on the internet, this book seems to be very popular and hard to find. The book retails for around $20 US and I've seen some sites trying to gouge people for used versions at 5-10 times that amount. You might be able to check it out at a local library.

I would not discontinue your repetition of writing and speaking the materials. Those are good tools for memory as well.

You might also contact fellow forum member Michael Tipper for some suggestions. He came in second place at the World Memory Championships. He has also written books, given lectures, and had TV appearances on mnemonics. Therefore, he is an international leading authority on the subject.

Hope this helps,
Mike

[Angelwings]

Dear Mark and Mike


Thanks for d advice.I will try the holistic learning, Pegging,Substitution and LInking but it takes time to practice and i'll be sitting d exam next week so i will go with my usual boring way of studying which is reading it out loud and writiting it over and over again. This summer i aim to improve some memory skills so my Final wud be alot easier. Also, I will contact Michael tipper for some good advice about learning.
As i mentioned, I didnt enjoy my course very much because its alot of hardwork! it takes too much of my time; sitting there and memorise.I dont have much time to Play/socialise. I find learning studying difficult in University because ders too much to memorise and my way of memorising is soooo boring, not effective and really killed my motivation. Most people in my university-the medical and pharmacy students study alot because ders alot to memorise and it takes alot of time to do so.
I ve been in Fencing and dancing clubs for 2 years now and each year der are only about 7-8students in d club and same for other clubs.Most students are studying hard putting in alot of effort and time into memorisng. If only, all of us have great memorising skill then study wud be less work and we wud have plenty of time to go out and enjoy.
Anywayz Have to get back to study. Wish me luck!