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Left and Right brained functions

Sunny Ghost

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It would mean that we all use both sides of our brain.

;)

agreed on that aspect... though i do think we often lean more towards one side or another.

i'm lost in considering someone that is an ESFP a left brained personality...
or in considering an ESFJ a right brained personality...
 

Zarathustra

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i'm lost in considering someone that is an ESFP a left brained personality...
or in considering an ESFJ a right brained personality...

Well, you shouldn't consider them as simply one or the other, as if there's a binary opposition there... that you must be right-brained or left-brained.

Each of them have one function in the left hemisphere and one function in the right hemisphere in their top two functions.
 

Sunny Ghost

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Well, you shouldn't consider them as simply one or the other, as if there's a binary opposition there... that you must be right-brained or left-brained.

Each of them have one function in the left hemisphere and one function in the right hemisphere in their top two functions.
i meant simply in terms of dominant...

but thinking on it more, i suppose i could see Se as a left brained function and Fe as a right.
 

KDude

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I'm willing to entertain different definitions of Fe, but Thomson's were the first to break it down for me. That's what I stick to for the time being. Just because it's "people oriented" doesn't necessarily give it a more subjective type of reasoning. Unfortunately, I don't have time to copy longer excerpts from her book, and the wiki is sparse on where she was heading at on this angle..

"Extraverted Feeling is conceptual and analytic. It encourages us to make rational choices, to measure our options for relationship against an external standard of behaviors. What distinguishes this function from Extraverted Thinking is the fact that relatedness involves human beings, not impersonal abstractions."

"Extraverted Feeling relies on the outward, left-brain criteria of custom and law to mark off decisions that go beyond our immediate experience to affect the larger community."
 

Thalassa

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I am right brained but also have high verbal/linguistic intelligence.
 

guesswho

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In most (97%) right-handed people language is controlled by the left hemisphere. Left-handers have a more even distribution of language in both hemispheres. In 19% this is concentrated in the left hemisphere, and in 68% it is concentrated in the right hemisphere, the remainder have language processing in both hemispheres.

Perhaps the most intriguing split brain research was with a patient of another pair of split brain researcher, Michael Gazzaniga and Joseph LeDoux, who had some limited language facilities in his right brain. This patient show marked preferences in responses from the two hemispheres. When asked, "What do you want to do?" the left hemisphere replied "draftsman", but the right hemisphere (using scrabble letters) replied "automobile race" .


Ned Herrmann is "Father of brain dominance technology". He drew on the work of Sperry and developed the theory brain dominance where people develop a dominant mode of thinking preference. These can range from an analytical "left brain" approach to "right brain" approaches involving pattern matching and intuitive understanding. These preferences have their roots in our genetic makeup and how it affects our underlying cognitive capabilities. For example left-right handed preferences have been observed in the womb. As we develop we tend to respond with our strongest abilities as these lead to quicker short-term rewards. This can create a positive feedback system that will strengthen those abilities. Eventually this can lead to a powerful preference for one style over the other and a dislike and discomfort for other modes of thinking.

Herrmann then went onto develop the four-quadrant model of cognitive preferences and a questionnaire called the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) , . The inspiration for this model came from dividing the brain into as four different systems with four preferred styles:

* A: Left cerebral hemisphere - analytical
* B: Left limbic system - sequential
* C: Right limbic system - interpersonal
* D: Right cerebral hemisphere - imaginative

However, Herrmann's system does not try to be an accurate model of the way the brain functions. Instead it should really be thought of as a model of different styles, partially inspired by the brain, but also the result of extensive questionnaires. As he refined his questionnaires four (rather than just two) separate clusters seemed to emerge which are reflected in the model. Considerable work has gone into testing the validity of this system with overall positive results.

A Quadrant: Analytical thinking.

* Key word: logical, factual, critical, technical and quantitative.
* Preferred activities: collecting data, listening to informational lectures, reading textbooks. Judging ideas based on facts, criteria and logical reasoning.

B Quadrant: Sequential thinking.

* Key word: conservative, structured, organised, detailed, and planned.
* Preferred activities: following directions, repetitive detailed homework problems, time management and schedules.

C Quadrant: Interpersonal thinking

* Key word: kinaesthetic, emotional, spiritual, sensory, feeling.
* Preferred activities: listening to and sharing ideas, looking for personal meaning, sensory input, and group study.

D Quadrant: Imaginative thinking.

* Key word: Visual, holistic, intuitive, innovative, and conceptual.
* Preferred activities: Looking at the big picture, taking initiative, simulations (what if questions), visual aids. Appreciate beauty of a problem, brainstorming.
 

Zarathustra

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Thanks for posting. This was awesome.

A Quadrant: Analytical thinking. = T

* Key word: logical, factual, critical, technical and quantitative.
* Preferred activities: collecting data, listening to informational lectures, reading textbooks. Judging ideas based on facts, criteria and logical reasoning.

B Quadrant: Sequential thinking. = S

* Key word: conservative, structured, organised, detailed, and planned.
* Preferred activities: following directions, repetitive detailed homework problems, time management and schedules.

C Quadrant: Interpersonal thinking = F

* Key word: kinaesthetic, emotional, spiritual, sensory, feeling.
* Preferred activities: listening to and sharing ideas, looking for personal meaning, sensory input, and group study.

D Quadrant: Imaginative thinking. = N

* Key word: Visual, holistic, intuitive, innovative, and conceptual.
* Preferred activities: Looking at the big picture, taking initiative, simulations (what if questions), visual aids. Appreciate beauty of a problem, brainstorming.

My additions are in bold.
 

KDude

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In most (97%) right-handed people language is controlled by the left hemisphere. Left-handers have a more even distribution of language in both hemispheres. In 19% this is concentrated in the left hemisphere, and in 68% it is concentrated in the right hemisphere, the remainder have language processing in both hemispheres.

I'm left handed. I'm kind of surprised that it would make that much of a difference. Either way, I would identify with quadrant A and D first, followed by C. Quadrant B is out to lunch. That one test floating around lately seems to reflect this, but I'm not sure that's saying much.

Language wise, I'm better with writing than I am speaking (which isn't to say that my writing is great - it's just that my speaking skills are not. I'm one of those people who gets tongue tied a bit).

My additions are in bold.

In that case, I'd be an INTP (an idea I've tossed about on my own already.. I doubt it though).
 

cascadeco

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^ Z - Preferring organization, structure, and definition (rather than randomness and open-ended things) is really more of a Je thing, in mbti terms. I would be surprised to hear of a great number of J's who, in school, chronically turned things in late and were unable to keep on top of things and time-manage, and who did poorly in traditional teaching methods/environments.

Guesswho - as to the great number of Right-brain results on your test, it's not different from most brain-dominance tests posted on here. There's a huge bias in the presentation of the tests (i.e. Creative = Right Brain!!), as well as this forum, that Right-brain thinking is more desirable. In my opinion, Right-brain in terms of *learning style* tends to tie most clearly to all of the NP's, as well as the SFP's (they at least are more extreme in Right-brain leaning, w/ less input from Left-brain). In school, I think the negative stereotypes of right-brained learners is shorter attention spans and inability/reluctance to adhere to set homework schedules with more definition. Right brain doms tend to do better with role-playing, interactive discussions, movement, and visuals. They are much more 'random' learners, and tend not to learn well from reading/words, or from lecture-style presentation. Right-brainers tend to do poorly in math and hard sciences (or at the very least, it's not their natural skillset/ preference), but instead excel in the arts/psychology/social sciences/very theoretical sciences such as quantum physics.

To counter the Right-brain leaners, I think there are types who are hardcore Left-brain (which would be STJ's for sure), and then types who utilize both sides fairly equally (although - even these more balanced ones are still going to prefer one side over the other). So Z - I agree that there are Rights, Lefts, and more moderate in-betweens, but I am not in agreement with you on where all of them specifically fall, or that in fact all of one of the in-between types HAVE to prefer the same side. I think there's some variability there.

Looking at the Quadrants - I think what you have labeled 'N' could easily be Ne - notably with regards to preferred activities. Not so much Ni. And, what you have labelled as 'S' has nothing to do with Se/how Se-doms operate. Etc etc.

It's certainly convenient to have a 1:1 matching between the quadrants and the dichotomies, but really.. ?? Seems a bit of a stretch.
 

Zarathustra

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^ Z - Preferring organization, structure, and definition (rather than randomness and open-ended things) is really more of a Je thing, in mbti terms. I would be surprised to hear of a great number of J's who, in school, chronically turned things in late and were unable to keep on top of things and time-manage, and who did poorly in traditional teaching methods/environments.

Well, you're talking to one here... :cheese:

(I was the kid who everyone hated cuz I never did my homework (and, if I did, I turned it in late), never studied (other than cramming the night and morning before the test), but got top grades on the tests, and therefore skirted by with an A- (in high school) or a B+ (in college). Teachers always loved me because I was so enthusiastic and critically responsive about the material, but were confounded by my turning everything in late, or not doing it at all. I'm late to almost everything, and I tend to hate overly scheduled/structured environments, as they kill spontaneity and creativity, which, at least for me, bring out the best in my potential.)

I would say that it's STJ more than anything, and that description is largely representative of Si.

That being said, I would say it makes more sense to put both S function in their than Si and Ni.

So Z - I agree that there are Rights, Lefts, and more moderate in-betweens, but I am not in agreement with you on where all of them specifically fall, or that in fact all of one of the in-between types HAVE to prefer the same side. I think there's some variability there.

Well, I never said the bolded.

I actually intentionally left that open-ended so that people reading could figure it out for themselves.

Who knows, maybe your primary judging function is what determines which hemisphere you most prefer, not just your dominant function.

That would make Fs more "right-brained" and Ts more "left-brained", which would seem reasonable.

Looking at the Quadrants - I think what you have labeled 'N' could easily be Ne - notably with regards to preferred activities. Not so much Ni.

OK, well let's look at what Quadrant D says:

D Quadrant: Imaginative thinking. = N

* Key word: Visual, holistic, intuitive, innovative, and conceptual.
* Preferred activities: Looking at the big picture, taking initiative, simulations (what if questions), visual aids. Appreciate beauty of a problem, brainstorming.

Now, there are three parts to this description: the title/name, the key words, and the preferred activities.

1. The title/name: imaginative thinking - You don't think imaginative thinking is a decent description for Ni? Nor for N as a whole?

2. The key words: Visual, holistic, intuitive, innovative, and conceptual - Other than maybe "visual", those all seem congruent with Ni, if you ask me.

3. Preferred activities: Looking at the big picture, taking initiative, simulations (what if questions), visual aids. Appreciate beauty of a problem, brainstorming - Now, I will admit that these lean more towards Ne than Ni, but, when it comes to Ni, what the hell kind of activity are you gunna say it "does"??? I would say "looking at the big picture" and "simulations (what if questions)" are pretty decent descriptions, if you'd have to explain it in just a few words, and without intentional direct reference to MBTI/Jungian functions/Ni.

The other quadrants... it's certainly convenient to have a 1:1 matching between the quadrants and the dichotomies, but really.. ?? Seems a bit of a stretch.

This I agree with completely. I just don't think it's that simple. But I am open-minded to what empirical testing might find, and what simplifying constructs they might use/be using at this time.
 

cascadeco

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Well, you're talking to one here. :cheese:

I would say that it's STJ more than anything, and that description is largely representative of Si.

That being said, I would say it makes more sense to put both S function in their than Si and Ni.

I don't think the 'Sequential' description fits Ni either (even though in the end, Ni wants to hone in on some structure/definition). Neither does it fit Se, really. I was just saying that the 'Sequential' description tends to allign with the Je functions - which is why I said it was rather 'J-ish' moreso than S - simply because all of the J's in the end are desirous of closure/order/definition, rather than chaos and things being up in the air.

Well, I never said the bolded.

Sorry, I know you didn't, that's just me stating my opinions.

Who knows, maybe your primary judging function is what determines which hemisphere you most prefer, not just your dominant function.

In terms of learning behaviors and preferred environments/results, I tend to lean in this direction. So, KDude's quadrant picture lines up better with how I see these things irl - i.e. P's trend towards Right-brain (Right Brain = Fi, Ti as judging functions), J's trend towards Left (Left Brain= Fe, Te as judging functions = external structure is desired).

That would make Fs more "right-brained" and Ts more "left-brained", which would seem reasonable.

Eh... dunno. I think ENTP's are a good example of those with very Right-brained learning styles and such, whereas ISFJ's tend to be more left-brained in terms of learning environments (structure, organization, etc).

Honestly I think it depends on what you're focusing on. I mean, with these examples, clearly ENTP's are Analytical (as are INTJ's) - which would point to Left-brained. But ENTP's I think are very Right-brained in terms of preferred activities/learning. They're almost a stereotype of Right-brain thinking imo.

[And if we're going Brain Dominance by F=Right, T=Left, that means I'm a T. Am I then? :)]

I think things are being combined that maybe shouldn't be -- i.e. The definitions of 'Left-brain dominance' vs. 'Right-brain dominance' will vary depending on whether you're looking at Preferred Activities vs. Key Words. So if people are focusing on preferred activities, the types that fall under Right Brain will be a certain list of types. If people are focusing on key words, then the list of types falling under Right Brain might be quite different.

Now, there are three parts to this description: the title/name, the key words, and the preferred activities.

1. The title/name: imaginative thinking - You don't think imaginative thinking is a decent description for Ni? Nor for N as a whole?

2. The key words: Visual, holistic, intuitive, innovative, and conceptual - Other than maybe "visual", those all seem congruent with Ni, if you ask me.

I did end up specifying in my post that Preferred Activities is what I think don't fit Ni.

Yes, on a high level, the descriptive key words can fit Ni's aims.
 

KDude

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Well, you're talking to one here. :cheese:

I would say that it's STJ more than anything, and that description is largely representative of Si.

Every description I've read of Te would reflect "quadrant B" instead (unless you're saying that descriptions of Te are clouded by the fact that Si is heavily associated with it.. and that these definitions are really more reflective of Te in conjunction with Si).

Extraverted Thinking: Segmenting; organizing for efficiency; systematizing; applying logic; structuring; checking for consequences; monitoring for standards or specifications being met; setting boundaries, guidelines, and parameters; deciding if something is working or not.

Introverted Sensing: Reviewing past experiences; “what is” evoking “what was”; seeking detailed information and links to what is known; recalling stored impressions; accumulating data; recognizing the way things have always been. Remembering the last time you wore a particular item or the last time you were at a similar event—maybe even remembering how you felt then.


Definitions taken from here (Berens/Nardi)
 

guesswho

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Guesswho - as to the great number of Right-brain results on your test, it's not different from most brain-dominance tests posted on here. There's a huge bias in the presentation of the tests (i.e. Creative = Right Brain!!), as well as this forum, that Right-brain thinking is more desirable. In my opinion, Right-brain in terms of *learning style* tends to tie most clearly to all of the NP's, as well as the SFP's (they at least are more extreme in Right-brain leaning, w/ less input from Left-brain). In school, I think the negative stereotypes of right-brained learners is shorter attention spans and inability/reluctance to adhere to set homework schedules with more definition. Right brain doms tend to do better with role-playing, interactive discussions, movement, and visuals. They are much more 'random' learners, and tend not to learn well from reading/words, or from lecture-style presentation. Right-brainers tend to do poorly in math and hard sciences (or at the very least, it's not their natural skillset/ preference), but instead excel in the arts/psychology/social sciences/very theoretical sciences such as quantum physics.

I know....the test should be impartial . I really couldn't find A PROPER test, the entire internet seems to be full of crappy tests, who kiss your ass telling you how smart and special you are. The MBTI kind of does that too...has a good word for all types. Hell...I'm pretty sure I am not an 'Inventor'
I was good at math, but like a self respecting right brainer I never did my homework, and I remember always mixing up numbers, even though I had everything right , I would put a 713 instead of a 317, I would put b/a instead of a/b, and sometimes when I copied the equation I would get something from a row , and then put the rest from the upper row without realizing lol it's so funny when I remember my attention errors.
 
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