The unit provides information on the study of the human brain for students in grades 5-9 with suggestions for extending the lessons for gifted and talented students. Learning activities are offered for ten lessons (sample subtopics in parentheses); introduction to the unit (student pretest and posttest); brain growth; medulla-oblongata-reptilian…

A study of eight adult chronic aphasic patients' comprehension of sentences and pictures in which comparisons of time and space were crucial was designed to assess A. R. Luria's approach to designing comprehension test tasks. The investigation required patients, with lesions of varying size and location, to determine whether a sentence expressing…

To further the understanding of how the brain operates at the most basic level of interest to human communication theorists, intrapersonal communication, this paper reviews the arguments against the hemispheric dominance theory and for a neurological processing style model of brain functions and then focuses on the impact of the corpus callosum (a…

Research has suggested that the two hemispheres of the brain serve specialized functions, with the most recent studies portraying the left hemisphere as processing information in a linear, serial, or sequential manner and the right hemisphere as processing information in a holistic, concrete, or visual mode. Although few systematic studies have…

Discusses research efforts at the University of Windsor focusing on the question of whether it is the case that some or all of the deficits exhibited by children who are classified as learning disabled are due to cerebral impariment and suggests that a neuro-psychological approach can provide a useful heuristic framework. (Author/JM)

This study examined the relationship between functional brain assymetry, as measured by the characteristic direction of eye movements in response to face-to-face questioning, and sitting on the left or right side of a classroom. Results are congruent with other findings comparing right and left movers. (Author/BJG)

For many years dyslexia has been incorrectly applied to those who have demonstrated difficulty in learning to read. Given the proper guidance and opportunities for becoming sensitive to demonstrations of the workings of language and engaging their minds in learning, many students will overcome their so-called learning disabilities. However, there…

Happy, neutral, and unhappy visual expressions were combined with positive, neutral, and negative intonations of positive, neutral, and negative messages to investigate congruent and incongruent verbal/nonverbal classroom communication. The 53 students in the study viewed pictures of their teacher, listened to a recording of their teacher, then…

FIFTEEN EMPIRICAL STUDIES CONCERNED WITH THE ROLE WHICH NEUROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION PLAYS IN THE TEACHING AND IMPROVEMENT OF READING ARE ANALYZED. FOLLOWING A REVIEW OF DELACATO'S THEORY OF NEUROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION, EACH OF THE STUDIES IS PRESENTED WITH ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE DATA AND WITH IMPLICATIONS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED OR CONTRARY TO…

This volume brings to light: (1) studies on the effects of different ways of acquiring and teaching a second language; (2) psychological studies on lexical organization in the bilingual brain; (3) neurological research including more than 100 case studies of polyglot aphasics; and (4) original experimental research on language lateralization in…

Four new approaches to remedial reading directed toward the stimulation of defective perceptual areas by procedures other than teaching reading skills are reviewed. The Delacato approach emphasizes the development of neurological organization and laterality. It may be useful for a small percentage of children with severe reading disabilities, but…

This study examined behavioral correlates of the rapid central nervous system changes occurring in the first 4 months of life. It was hypothesized that during the early months of infancy, visual preference would occur as a function of quantitative dimensions of the stimuli (size) which could be mediated at a subcortical level. It was further…

Research involving split-brain patients has shown that the two hemispheres of the brain process information differently. The left side of the brain is more analytical, the right side is more holistic, taking in overall characteristics rather than specific detail. This reserach can be applied to the educational process in several ways. The concepts…

If motivation to read fails to develop, reading failure is the outcome. All of us have very delicately balanced neural systems for integrating incoming sensory inputs, evaluating their significance in the light of past experience, and storing the learning for future use. Autistic and hyperkinetic children apparently have unbalanced neurological…

Some of the major lines of investigation that point to neurophysiological factors in spatial skill are presented. These lines include: the two hemispheres of the brain, recent studies, tachistoscopic studies, morphological differences between the cerebral hemispheres, Geschwind and Levitsky's discovery, cerebral dominance re-examined, sex…