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EFFECTS OF BRAIN DOMINANCE AND HANDEDNESS IN MEMORY

RETENTION OF SELECTED FOURTH YEAR HIGH

SCHOOL STUDENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

IN TRECE MARTIRES CITY, CAVITE

Shalom G. Ersando and Mariel DanicaMitu

A thesis proposal submitted to the faculty of the Department of Social Sciences and

Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, Cavite State University, Indang Cavite, in

partial fulfilment of the requirements for graduation with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Psychology with contribution no. ______________. Prepared under the

supervision of Mrs.Armi Grace B. Desingaño.

INTRODUCTION

Education is one of the common factors that are needed in our country for further

progress. Education is life (Inductivo et. al, 2011). Everyone must be educated to learn

new things to be more productive in our own ways.

The school is the most common place where students can enhance their learning.

Studying is a way of improving intelligence which can also enhance one‟s memory.

Memory is the process that is used to acquire, store, retain and later retrieve information

(Cherry, 2013). It is the ability to draw on our past experiences in order to use it in the

present. Having the ability to retain many memories gives an individual the advantage to

remember many learned things contained in its past experiences. This also means that a

student who can retain many lessons can excel on most subjects in his/her studies.



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Memory retention plays a big role for students because the larger the capacity of

information that they can store in their memory, the higher chance for them to get a high

grade. Many ways have been conducted to help a person improve memory retention.

Reading is one of the examples to improve one's memory. A person who is fond of

reading has higher capacity to retain information in their memory.

Department of Education plays a big role in enhancing a student‟s educational

needs so they set programs to evaluate students‟ intelligence and memory retention. The

National Achievement Test is one of the programs that Department of Education

administers for them to know how high the students‟ intelligence increases or how low it

decreases every year. Based on the statistics the trend of National Achievement Test

(NAT) results in Mean Percentage Score (MPS) of secondary levels from 49.3% in 2008

dropped to 46.7% in 2009 and 45.6% in 2010. There are several factors affecting the

decrease of National Achievement Test Results. Study habits of students, class room

facilities, teaching strategies and environmental factors such as noise are some of the

factors that affect the decrease of NAT results.

The above statement indicates the conditions that cannot be controlled by the

students in terms of their academic performance. But what can be controlled by the

students is the ability of their brain. Particularly, their brain is divided into two parts: the

left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. The left hemisphere produces our intellectual,

analytical and critical behaviour (Shannon, 1980). Therefore, a person who is left brain

dominant is good in logic, critical thinking, numbers, language, and reasoning. On the

other hand, right hemisphere is responsible for making us more spatially aware, intuitive

and artistic (Shannon, 1980). A person who is right brain dominant processes information



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non-verbally, such as visual recognition, solving a jigsaw puzzle and the like and they

tend to recognize pattern, faces and music. But there are people who are bilateral, or uses

there left and right brain equally.

These characteristics, at the same time, show relevance on handedness. According

to Trampe (2001), brain dominance can be easily determined by knowing the handedness

of an individual. It proved that a right-handed person is left brain dominant but they had

problems when it comes to a left- handed person. Only 2 out of 10 of every left-handed

individuals are right-brain dominant. Almost all of the students are right handed and,

according to Broca's theory, are left brained dominant which can be a factor why there is

a decrease or increase in the students NAT results.

This study perfectly fits the 4th

year high school students because they are taking

the National Achievement Test and there can be a conflict in their brain dominance based

on their handedness that affects their intelligence. And the results of the NAT can help

them adjust to the college environment.

The researchers intend to conduct this study for everyone to be aware, especially

the students to know their brain dominance and change their learning style according to

it. These will also benefit the teachers in using a proper learning device for their students

according on their dominant brain. School administrators can also benefit in this study

because they can able to help the teachers in giving them new ideas about what possible

strategies can they use for their students to improve their memory retention and academic

performance by administering seminars and workshops and they can also help their

students to be attentive in class by improving their facilities. Lastly, it can also be a basis



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for an intervention program on how brain dominance and handedness can affect one's

intelligence and memory retention.

Statement of the Problem

Generally, the study will be conducted to determine the effects of brain

dominance and handedness in memory retention of selected fourth year high school

students in public schools in TreceMartires City, Cavite.

Specifically, the study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What part of the brain is dominant among 4th

year high school students as

classified between:

a. left-brained;

b. right-brained; and

c. bilateral?

2. What is the handedness of the 4th

year high school students as classified into:

a. left-handedness; and

b. right-handedness?

3. What is the level of memory retention of the 4th

year high school students?

4. Does brain dominance has a significant effect on memory retention?

5. Does handedness has a significant effect on memory retention?

6. Is there a significant relationship between brain dominance and handedness?



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Theoretical Framework

Right Brain, Left Brain Theory

Roger W. Sperry (1994) concluded the right-brain, left brain theory when he

discovered that cutting the corpus collosum (the structure that connects the two

hemispheres of the brain) could reduce or eliminate seizures while studying the effects of

epilepsy.

Other symptoms were experienced by the patients who have epilepsy after the

communication pathway between the two sides of the brain was cut. Many split-brain

patients were able to name objects that were processed by their left brain, but were not

able to name objects that processed by their right brain.

According to right brain, left brain theory, each side of the brain controls different

types of thinking. A person who is "left-brained" is often said to be more logical,

analytical and objective, while a person who is "right-brained" is said to be more

intuitive, thoughtful and subjective. This means that left side of the brain is considered to

be skillful at tasks that involve logic, language, critical thinking, numbers, reasoning and

analytical thinking, while the right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative

tasks.

In relation to the study, a student who is left side of the brain is dominant is good

in calculating, thinking, word puzzles, language, speech, and is realistic, while a student

who is right side of the brain is more dominant is good in art, recognizing faces, music,

intuition, images, color, reading emotion and is imaginative. Knowing the brain

dominance of students‟plays a very important role in their study because, they can change

their learning style to help them to improve their academic performance.



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Levels of Processing Theory

It is an influential theory of memory proposed by Craig and Lockhart (1972)

which rejected the idea of the dual store model of memory. This popular model

postulated that characteristics of a memory are determined by its "location" (ie, fragile

memory trace in short term store [STS] and a more durable memory trace in the long

term store [LTS]. Instead, Craig and Lockhart proposed that information could be

processed in a number of different ways and the durability or strength of the memory

trace was a direct function of the depth of processing involved. Moreover, depth of

processing was postulated to fall on a shallow to deep range.

Shallow processing is the analysis of information based on physical and sensory

characteristics. It has two forms: the structural processing (appearance) where we only

encode the physical characteristics of a certain kind of information; and the other one is

the phonemic processing where we only encode its sound. Maintenance rehearsal

(repetition to help us hold something in the short term memory) is the only type of

rehearsal to take place within the multi-store model that leads to fairly short-term

retention of information.

Deep processing is the analysis of information based on meaning. It involves the

semantic processing. It happens when people used to encode the meaning of a word and

relate it to similar words with similar meanings. A more meaningful analysis and critical

thinking is involved in an elaboration rehearsal that is involved in a deep processing that

can lead to a better recall. Giving a self-definition for a word and setting an example that

would link them to a previous knowledge is an example of deep processing.



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This theory explains how a level of processing affects memory retention. Students

who use shallow processing have a hard time in retaining and recalling information. But

if a student uses deeper level of processing, he/she can easily retain and recall/ retrieve

information. It is the idea that the way information is encoded affects how well it is

remembered. The deeper the level of processing, the easier the information is to recall.

Conceptual Framework

The paradigm shows that the respondents will be the 4th

year high school students

in public schools in TreceMartires City, Cavite. Their brain dominance will be classified

between the left hemisphere, right hemisphere and bilateral or whole brain. Their

handedness will also be classified between right handed and left handed. The one arrow

from brain dominance to memory retention, and the arrow from handedness to memory

retention, shows that brain dominance and handedness are the independent variables and

memory retention is the dependent variable.



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Figure 1.The effects of brain dominance and handedness on memory retention of 4th

year high school students in public schools in TreceMartirez City, Cavite.

4th

Ye4th YearrHigh School

Students in Public Schools inTreceMartires City, Cavite

Brain Dominance

a. left brain

b. right brain

c. bilateral

Memory Retention

Handedness

a. left handed

b. right handed



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Hypotheses

Ho1:Brain dominancedoes not have a significant effect on memory retention of 4th

year high school students.

Ho2:Handedness does not have a significant effect on memory retention of 4th


Objectives

Generally, this study aims todetermine the effects of brain dominance and

handedness in memory retention of selected fourth year high school students in public

schools in TreceMartires City, Cavite.

Specifically, this study aims to:

1. determine what part of the brain is dominant among 4th

year high school

students as classified between:

a. left-brained;

b. right-brained; and

c. bilateral

2. determine what is the handedness of the 4th

year high school students as

classified into:

c. left-handedness; and

d. right-handedness

3. determine what is the level of memory retention of the 4 th year high school

students.

4. determine if brain dominance has a significant effect on memory retention.

5. determine if handedness has a significant effect on memory retention.



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6. determine if there is a significant relationship between brain dominance and

handedness.

Importance of the Study

The study will be beneficial to the following individuals or groups of people:

Respondents.By means of this study, the respondents can determine if

handedness and brain dominance affects their memory retention level. In a way, they can

change their learning style according to their brain dominance. If they are not fond of

reading, they can start reading some reading materials. It can help them to improve their

memory.

Teachers.This can help the teachers in knowing what teaching strategies and

techniques are most effective for their students, thus promoting higher learning.

Examples of the strategies that they can do are, if their students are left brained, they can

give them some logical questions pertaining to their lessons. And they should encourage

their students to find new ways in solving problems like mathematical equations. They

should always prepare graphs, charts and tables for their students to be more attentive and

to learn more. On the other hand, if their students are right brained, teachers can create

visual aids that are colourful and artistic. And they should be patient in guiding and

explaining them how to solve a problem especially a mathematical problem. They should

clearly state all the principles and concepts and give them many examples for them to

learn.

Counselors.This can help the counselors‟ in guiding the students on what

possible learning strategies they can do to improve their memory retention and their

academic performance based on their dominant side of the brain.



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School administrators.By means of this study, the school administrators will be

able to administer seminars and training workshops that can give teachers new ideas

about what possible strategies and techniques can they use for their students. They can

also improve the schools facilities especially the class rooms and the laboratory rooms to

be able the students become more attentive and cooperative in their class. They can also

change some chairs for the left handed students for them to become comfortable.

Parents.This study can help the parents to know what are the possible effects of

brain dominance and handedness in memory retention of their child and help their child

improve it. They can give their child some supplements that can help them improve their

memory and give them necessary learning materials like for the left brain students, they

can give them some reading materials, puzzle like sudoku, crosswords and others. If their

child is right brain, they can give them some art materials for them to enhance their

creativity.

Community.This will be a great help for the community to think of ways on how

to prepare for their future work, thus giving future graduates and employees a chance to

get into field they are more suitable in. It can also increase the productivity of the

employee on what position in the company they are suitable with.

Field of Psychology.(Educational Psychology).It can help psychology students

and teachers in knowing how handedness and brain dominance plays a big role in

person‟s memory retention and how handedness and brain dominance affects our way of

thinking. Students can tell others about this thesis to be able to be aware about their brain

dominance which can help them improve their learning style to be able to have a good



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and high grade and to be able to improve their memory. It can help the teachers to have

new strategies to help their student to have a good grade.

Future Researchers.This study can serve as a guide for the future researchers

who wish to dwell on similar variables and topic for further search for knowledge.

Scope and Limitations

This study will focus only on the possible effects of left brain dominant and right

brain dominant students and left handed and right handed student towards memory

retention. Its main focus is to comprehend the factors of being left brain and right brain

and left handed and right handed individual, and how it can affect their memory

retention.

The respondents of the study will be the selected fourth 4th

year students in public

schools in TreceMartires City, Cavite, including the TreceMartires National High School

(Main Campus) and its Annexes, TreceMartires National High School (Cabezas Annex)

and TreceMartires National High School (ConchuAnex). Luis Aguado National High

School and Francisco Osorio National High School will also be included as locale where

participants will be identified.

Definition of Terms

The following are conceptual and operational definitions that will guide the

readers for a common frame of understanding:

Memory.Memory is the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain and later

retrieve information (Cherry, 2013). In this study, it refers to the ability of the 4th

year

high school students to draw on past experiences in order to use it in the present.



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Memory retention.The mental capacity or faculty of retaining or recalling facts,

events, impressions, or previous experiences (http://www.thefreedictionary.com). It refers

to the capacity of the students‟ brain to store and retrieve information.

Brain dominance. It is one side of the brain that is dominant; meaning, one side

of the brain is responsible for performing some unique and independent functions

(Helliage, 1990). It refers to the students whether they left-brained dominant or right-

brained dominant.

Right-brain dominant.Right side of the brain that is considered to be creative

and athletic part. Art appreciation comes from this half and where the spatial imagery

comes from. The right is known as the visual side (Trampe, 2001). In this study, it is the

students who are good in recognizing faces, expressing emotions, music, reading

comprehension, intuition and creativity.

Left-brain dominant.Left-side of the brain that is considered to be adept at tasks

that involve logic, language and analytical thinking (Cherry, 2013). It refers to the

students who like to read and are good in numbers, reasoning, and critical thinking.

Bilateral brain dominant.This is a psychological term indicating that brain

function is pretty much equally shared between the left and right hemispheres of the brain

(Biology, 2007). It refers to the students who are equally uses their left and right

hemisphere of their brain.

Handedness.Handedness is the dominance of one hand over the other, or the

unequal distribution of fine motor skills between the left and right hands

(http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/what.html). This refers to the uses of the hand

whether it is left or right hand.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/what.html


http://www.thefreedictionary.com/



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Right-handedness (or dextrality) People who are more dexterous with their right

hand when performing manual tasks (http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/what.html). As

used in this study, they are the students who use their right hand in writing and

performing other activities.

Left-handedness (or sinistrality) People who are more dexterous with their left

hand when performing manual tasks (http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/what.html).

This refers to the students who use their left hand in performing activities and in writing.







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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of related literature that came from books, unpublished

thesis, and websites which supports the study of brain dominance, handedness and

memory retention.

Brain Dominance

Brain dominance is the term used to describe the preferred way of thinking of an

individual by his/her own interests. This affects how a person process information.

According to Madela (2006), how a person learns affects personality, behavior, and

whether they are left-brain or right-brain dominant, they possess characteristics of both

hemispheres in their behavior. Brain dominance is using a most preferred side of the

brain than the other hemisphere. Hemispheric specialization is the unique way that the

two sides of the brain use to solve problems (Hermann, 2001). These sides of the brain

are referred to as left-brain and right-brain dominance. The two sides of the brain

functions differently over the other, these functions have been studied and described as

the left brain being responsible for the rational, analytical, and verbal thinking of a

person, while the right brain is responsible for the creative, intuitive, and responsive

thinking of the person. It is determined that one side of the brain has a unique function in

processing information over the other. The two sides of the brain functions normally, it

receives equal information but processes it differently. It is also mentioned that both

hemispheres rely on one learning model than the other, especially when new informations

have been gathered to the brain.



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People don‟t have the same brain but its hemispheric sides can think differently

by its own way, thus making the other side dominant. This specialization is called

lateralization which is described as the unique function of each of the hemispheres of the

brain. There is always a specialization of the function in some areas of the brain of each

individual (Gazzaniga et. al, 2001).

As used in this study, it refers to the classification of the high school students

whether they are left brain dominant, right brain dominant or bilateral as the result on the

questionnaire for brain dominance by Mariani (1996).

Left-Brain.It is stated that the left side of the brain is the part which is

responsible for the rational, analytical, and verbal thinking of a person. This includes

numbers, reasoning, critical thinking, logic, and systematic way of a person‟s thinking

ability. It is specialized in the language skills, analytical time sequence processing, and

skilled movement of a person. It focuses on the activities that require reading, thinking,

comprehensive writing, and reasoning (Robertson &Ivry, 2000). According to Rosete

(2009), 95% of the people use their left brain for language and comprehension such as

reading, writing, and speaking. That is why people often thought that the left brain is the

side of the brain which is logical, practical, and rule abiding. The left side of the brain

excels in mathematical problems, categorizing things, sequencing orders, and thinking

analytically.

A left brain learner is often called linear or analytical (Madela, 2006). They are

more usually logical, organized, and disciplined. According to Madela (2006) a person

who is left brain dominant prefers to look at the details and makes decision by facts. The

thinking and problem solving attributes of left brain dominant person is characterized as



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being logical, analytical, rational, objective, and critical. These are persons talented in

technical and quantitative endeavors. They use practical judgment and have an empirical

and keen view of problems and situations. They are very good at dealing with concrete

situations and seek quantitative precision.

In general, this left side of the brain focuses mainly in our analytical activity. We

can say if the person is dominant by their left side of the brain if they are, according to

Ellen Gagne, commonly labeled “academic” in aspects of learning, such as language and

mathematics, logical, thoughts, sequences and analysis. A student who is left brain

dominant prefers to work alone or is independent, attentive during long verbal

explanations, likes to read, good at math, very logical and when he/she is studying, he

prefers a place that totally quiet.

Right-Brain.The right side of the brain is responsible for the creativeness and

imagination of a person. It has the capacity to process only the simplest letters, numbers,

and languages. It answers questions non-verbally by pointing at objects or giving

illustrations. Although it cannot process information logically, it can produce information

by its own ways; the right brain is specialized in perceptive thinking, recognizing

patterns, faces, and music, solving a puzzle, and making an art (Feldman, 2000). The

right brain is more dominant in non-verbal process of information, such as visual

recognition, spatial perception, and emotion (Floel& others, 2004). It also helps a person

express his/her own emotions and detect emotions that other people feel (Borod, 1998).

Therefore, recognizing and expressing emotions and much of humor involves the right

side of the brain (Gegeshidze&Tsaquareli, 2004).



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A right brain learner is called a global learner (Madela, 2006) because that person

can see the overall view of an idea and processes its information globally. They prefer

working in groups so they can express their own ideas as a whole. These persons tend to

major in subjects such as music, art, journalism, and architecture because of their ability

to process visual information simultaneously and holistically. The thinking and problem

solving attributes of a right brain person is characterized as imaginative, intuitive, artistic,

and visually oriented. These people do well in tasks calling for synthesizing and

conceptualizing abilities. They also have an integrative and more comprehensive view of

situations and problems. Right brain dominant people are thought of as the dreamers, the

artists, and the musicians of the world (Trampe, 2001).

Generally speaking, the right brain processes information spatially perceptive,

simultaneously and divergently. The right brain processes data simultaneously and

holistically, these kinds of persons are good in expressing their ideas. According to Ellen

Gagne, we can determine if the person is right brain dominant when he/ she is concerned

with creative activities , utilizing rhymes, music, visual impressions, colors and pictures.

Spontaneous and unpredictable, don't like reading directions, good at sports, art, and

recalling spatial imagery, prefer to work in a group than individual, and a dreamer is

some of the characteristics of a right brain dominant.

Bilateral Brain Dominance.This is a psychological term indicating that brain

function is pretty much equally shared between the left and right hemispheres of the

brain. Such individuals are thought to have better integration of thinking, not tending

dramatically toward either creative thinking or analytical thinking.

This refers to the students who uses there left and right brain hemisphere equally.



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Handedness

Handedness is the dominance of one hand over the other. It is the unequal

distribution of labor or motor skills between the left and right hands. It is the tendency of

people to be more skilled with one hand over the other, or sometimes can be merely their

preferred hand over the other (Mastin, 2012).

Handedness is referred to the preferred hand when doing manual tasks,

particularly writing, encoding, throwing, etc. Roughly 90% of humans are right-handed.

The term ambidexterity is often developed by left-handed children who are forced to

write with their right hand, thus giving them the ability to write with both hands.

Defining handedness is not clearly as simple as knowing which hand is used in

writing because many famous people (e.g. Babe Ruth, Martin Navratilova, Mike Weir,

Arnold Palmer, Bill Gates, Gerald Ford) prefers one hand in writing and the other hand in

doing other activities other than writing (http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/

measuring.html). Handedness is the result of human brain‟s unique development. While

the human mind is intuitively understood as a single entity, research in brain physiology

and anatomy has demonstrated that various areas of the brain control different mental

aptitudes, and the physiological structure of the brain affects our mental functions. The

brain‟s fundamental structure is dual (there are two cerebral hemispheres), and this

duality is an essential quality of the human body.

In this study, they are the students who use their hands in some simple tasks like

writing, eating, raising their hand when they want to recite and throwing.

http://www.rightleftrightwrong.com/%20measuring.html







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Right-Handedness.Right handedness is the dominance of the right hand over the

left hand of an individual. It is also called dextrality. It is the handedness where people

prefer, or primarily use, their right hand when doing manual tasks. It is referred to as the

most common handedness in the world. 90% of the overall population is right handed

(Corballis, 2007) and depending on the definitions used, 60% being strongly right-handed

or perform all their activities using their right hand.

It says that the right hand is more dominant compare to the left hand because

majority of the people in the world is right handed person. That is why most of the things

or equipment is typically made for right handed persons. They are the students‟ who uses

their right hand in doing some tasks most of the time, and are most left brain dominant

because, according to Price (2009) right-handed people have left-hemisphere-dominant

brains.

Left-Handedness.Left handedness or sinistrality is the dominance of the left hand

over the right hand of a person. It is the handedness where people prefer, or mainly use

their left hand in performing manual tasks and activities. There are only 10% of the

world‟s population falls into this category, but there is only 3% who are strongly left -

handed or people who perform all their activities with their left hand

(http://www.rightleftright wrong.com/what.html).

Considering this a typical group of population, one interesting point made by

Bosman (2004) was the negative orientation of the history toward left-handedness. He

browsed the history in order to refer to the negative connotations that have been attached

to the notion of left-handedness. To do so, he started with the etymology of the word



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“left” in different languages and comes up with negative sides of meaning in a number of

world languages. He therefore draws attention to some other anthropological examples of

right/left symbolism that proved the unkindness of the history to left-handers.

Left-handers are more numerous among people with reading disabilities, allergies,

and migraine headaches (Geschwind Behan, 1984). But left-handedness is also more

common among musicians, mathematicians, professional baseball and cricket players,

architects, and artists, including such luminaries as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci,

and Picasso. Although left-handers must tolerate elbow-jostling at dinner parties, right-

handed desks, awkward scissors, it seems the pros and cons of being a lefty are roughly

equal (Left-handers are more numerous among people with reading disabilities, allergies,

and migraine headaches (Geschwind Behan, 1984).

Generally speaking only few people are considered left handed, because the

dominance of majority of the people is their right hand. These left handers are mostly

right brain dominant.

Memory

Memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences in order to use

this information in the present. As a process, memory refers to the dynamic mechanisms

associated with retaining and retrieving information about our past experience (Stenberg,

1999).

Memory can be broken down into categories as defined by duration of retention

and purpose. Recognition is defined as a type of memory that involves noticing whether

or not a stimulus is identical or similar to one previously experienced (Berk, 2010).



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Retention, simply defined, is an aspect of memory that involves either a short- or long-

term holding of information in the human brain (Cooper, Heron, &Heward, 2007).

Specifically, cognitive psychologists have identified three common operations of

memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Each operation represents a stage in memory

processing. In encoding, you transform sensory data into a form of mental

representations; in storage, you keep encoded information in memory; and in retrieval,

you pull out on use information stored in memory Robert J. Stenberg (1999).

There are four theories that have further observations in memory: the Modal

Model Theory (Richard Atkinson-Richard Shiffrin, 1968) which proposed that the human

memory involves a sequence of three stages which are the sensory memory where this is

the initial or momentary recording of information in our sensory system; the short-term

memory where the information is selected by attention from sensory memory; and long-

term memory which provides lasting retention of information that ranges from a minute

to a lifetime. The Working Memory Model (Baddely and Hitch, 1974) which states that

the central executive acts as attention and channels the information to the three

component processes namely: the phonological loop which stores auditory information;

visuo-spatial sketchpad which stores visual and spatial information; and the episodic

buffer which is dedicated to linking information and chronological ordering. The Level of

Processing Approach (Craig and Lockhart, 1972) which tells that there is a basis for the

analysis of information: the shallow processing which is the analysis of information

based on physical and structural characteristics; and the deep processing which is the

analysis of information based on its meaning. And lastly, the Tulving‟s Multiple Memory

System (1972, 1993) which is composed of episodic, semantic, and procedural memory.



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The inability to recall, retrieve/organize information that is stored in a long-term

memory is the process of forgetting. It may be caused by decaying or death, interference,

failure to encode, or amnesia.

The memory is very important to mankind because its serves as the storage of

information and all the things we knew starting from our childhood until we grow old.

Sometimes some of the people are having difficulty in retrieving the information from

their brain dew to some brain problems.

Memory Retention

Memory retention is the capacity of the brain to retain as much as memory can be

stored to the brain (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Memory+retention). It is the term

used to describe how long or how many can a person memorize given information or

recall it for a given amount of time. The higher the memory retention of an individual, the

higher level of intelligence can be obtained.

This memory retention is the ability of our brain to recall or retrieve such

information which is stored for so many years. That is why some people can still

remember a situation even though it is happened for so many years ago.

Right Brain, Left Brain Theory

Roger W. Sperry (1994) concluded the right-brain, left brain theory when he

discovered that cutting the corpus collosum (the structure that connects the two

hemispheres of the brain) could reduce or eliminate seizures while studying the effects of

epilepsy.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Memory+retention

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Memory+retention



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Other symptoms were experienced by the patients who have epilepsy after the

communication pathway between the two sides of the brain was cut. Many split-brain

patients were able to name objects that were processed by their left brain, but were not

able to name objects that processed by their right brain.

According to right brain, left brain theory, each side of the brain controls different

types of thinking. A person who is "left-brained" is often said to be more logical,

analytical and objective, while a person who is "right-brained" is said to be more

intuitive, thoughtful and subjective. This means that left side of the brain is considered to

be skillful at tasks that involve logic, language, critical thinking, numbers, reasoning and

analytical thinking, while the right side of the brain is best at expressive and creative

tasks.

In relation to the study, a student who is left side of the brain is dominant is good

in calculating, thinking, word puzzles, language, speech, and is realistic, while a student

who is right side of the brain is more dominant is good in art, recognizing faces, music,

intuition, images, color, reading emotion and is imaginative. Knowing the brain

dominance of students‟ plays a very important ro le in their study because, they can

change their learning style to help them to improve their academic performance.

Levels of Processing Theory

It is an influential theory of memory proposed by Craig and Lockhart (1972)

which rejected the idea of the dual store model of memory. This popular model

postulated that characteristics of a memory are determined by its "location" (ie, fragile

memory trace in short term store [STS] and a more durable memory trace in the long

term store [LTS]. Instead, Craig and Lockhart proposed that information could be



25

processed in a number of different ways and the durability or strength of the memory

trace was a direct function of the depth of processing involved. Moreover, depth of

processing was postulated to fall on a shallow to deep range.

Shallow processing is the analysis of information based on physical and sensory

characteristics. It has two forms: the structural processing (appearance) where we only

encode the physical characteristics of a certain kind of information; and the other one is

the phonemic processing where we only encode its sound. Maintenance rehearsal

(repetition to help us hold something in the short term memory) is the only type of

rehearsal to take place within the multi-store model that leads to fairly short-term

retention of information.

Deep processing is the analysis of information based on meaning. It involves the

semantic processing. It happens when people used to encode the meaning of a word and

relate it to similar words with similar meanings. A more meaningful analysis and critical

thinking is involved in an elaboration rehearsal that is involved in a deep processing that

can lead to a better recall. Giving a self-definition for a word and setting an example that

would link them to a previous knowledge is an example of deep processing.

This theory explains how a level of processing affects memory retention. Students

who use shallow processing have a hard time in retaining and recalling information. But

if a student uses deeper level of processing, he/she can easily retain and recall/ retrieve

information. It is the idea that the way information is encoded affects how well it is

remembered. The deeper the level of processing, the easier the information is to recall.



26

Hemispheric Dominance Theory

This theory recognizes that the entire brain is active at all times, and both

hemispheres are kept busy virtually by task, making it possible for learning to have the

commitment of both hemispheres. Kosslyn and Rosenberg (in Hermann, 2011) call it

thinking with both barrels.

The hemispheric specialization refers to the distinct roles that each of the two

hemispheres plays in thinking skills particularly in problem solving ability (Hermann,

2001). The terms left-brained and right brained are used to describe which hemisphere is

dominant in a person.

This theory says that the two sides of the brain, the right hemisphere and the left

hemisphere have different functions, they are always active and are always works

simultaneously.

Lateralization

It is the functional specialization of the brain with some skills as language,

occurring primarily in the left hemisphere and others as the perception of visual and

spatial relationships occurring primarily in the right hemisphere.

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lateralization).

The human brain is divided into two hemispheres - left and right hemispheres.

Lateralization of brain function means that there are certain mental processes that are

mainly specialized to one side or the other. Most mental functions are distributed across

the hemispheres but there are specific processes that are specialized to one hemisphere.

For example, both sides of the brain perform functions related to language. But in most

people, grammar and vocabulary are localized to the left side of the brain, while

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lateralization

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lateralization



27

understanding the emotional content of language is a function of the right hemisphere

(www.alley.com.(2013).

According to Khosravizadeh and Teimournezhad (2011), the functionality of the

two hemispheres is categorized into separate parts by some researchers. Chevalier, for

example, links some cognitive processes to the right side of the brain and concludes,

“The right hemisphere mostly works with the whole concepts, similarities, images and

meaning, emotions and intuition, rhythm and flow, humor and mood, and

farsightedness”.

On the other hand he argues that the “left hemisphere takes care of logic

differences, numbers and letters, reasoning and analysis, sequentiality, literal focus, and

details” (quoted by Bosman, 2004). The significant point to be repeated in this regard is

the fact that -as admitted also by Chevalier himself- this is not a full dichotomous concept

and the borderline between the cognitive functions of the two sides of the brain is not as

clear as it may seem here. Language is a frequently cited example of such lateralized

functions, for which the interaction of the two hemispheres is frequently reported in the

literature.

Handedness and Lateralization

Handedness is often seen as a by-product of brain lateralization in human beings,

which is also at work in the development of language among them. Nevertheless, what

remains ambiguous is the fact that why it does not affect all the human beings. In fact, a

minor group of the population of every culture (5% – 15%) is found to be left-handed.

For long, it has been proven that, in case of human beings, the two concepts of brain

lateralization for language and handedness are interconnected to a large degree. The



28

relationship is in a way that right-hemisphere dominance for language is found more in

case of left-handers than in right-handers. However, the exact nature of such a link is still

under doubt.

With regard to this claim, it worth pointing out here that some advantages have

been reported for left-handedness, for which the likelihood of right hemisphere

dominance for language is more than that of right handed people. However, the exact

nature of such a link is still under doubt. Deutsch and Springer, for example, assert that

for the thirty percent of left-handers whose speech is in the right-hemisphere, because of

proximity of the brain parts which are at work for verbal and non-verbal abilities, these

two types of skills are more interconnected and interwoven (Field, 2004). Khosravizadeh

and Teimournezhad, 2011).

In relevance to the study, the hand that use by a person has significant relationship

with the brain. The left hemisphere controls the right part of our body, while the left

hemisphere controls the right part of the body. Meaning, we can control our hands using

our brain.

General Features of Handedness

According to Marchant& McGrew (1998), there are two important feature of

handedness. They conclude that, these features are not fully proven by the literature, and

there are limitations to what have been done in this regard and more ethnographical

studies are called for.

Uniqueness. It is the 1st

important feature of handedness according to Marchant&

McGrew (1998). Early literature on psychology reveals that handedness is unique to

human beings only. Other species are thought to be evenly distributed between left- and



29

right- preference. However, the empirical data from the studies done by MacNeilage et al.

challenge these views. They claimed that handedness is wide spread among other species,

especially simians as well (Marchant and McGrew, 1998).

Such contradictory findings of researches prove that for the moment nothing can

be claimed confidently about the uniqueness of handedness to humans, as Marchant&

McGraw (1998) truly summarize. Yet, there are evidences for hand preference among

some species, which still provide no enough support for the existence of handedness or

hand specialization among them.

A point to be made here is the fact that the same struggle exists between the

scholars regarding lateralization of the brain among species. There have been much

evidences about the lateralization and limb preference among other species, however, not

all scholars have been convinced and are still regarding human beings as being unique in

this regard. On the other hand, others, Corballis (2009) for example, just recently

admitted that the empirical evidences proved that lateralization does exist in other

vertebrate species. Rogers (2007) quotes him as saying: „„some of our lateralized

activities may well be distinctive to our own species, but cerebral lateralization itself is

not‟‟. This claim is in line with what has been reviewed by Sun and Walsh, who, taking

handedness as an evidence for lateralization concluded that human beings are the only

species who have more than 90% bias to use one hand over the other.

Universality.Universality is the 2nd

feature of handedness. It has to do with the

fact that people from all societies show evidences of right-hand dominance in performing

tasks, however the portion stated by the researchers are different due to the fact that their

studies were all limited in terms of size of sampling or aspects of methodology.



30

Nevertheless, even small- scaled studies revealed that neither geography, nor schooling

play any role in the likelihood of handedness among different populations (Marchant&

McGrew, 1998).

Handedness is related to memory via hemispheric interaction: Evidence from paired

associate recall and source memory tasks.

Strongly right (SR)- handedness is associated with poorer memory performance

than non-strongly right (nSR)- handedness (e.g., Propper, Christman, &Phaneuf, 2005).

The hemispheric interaction theory states that the nSR memory advantage occurs because

nSR handedness, compared with SR, is a behavioral marker for greater interaction of the

cerebral hemispheres. The hemispheric interaction theory predicts that the nSR advantage

should be observed exclusively on memory tasks that require hemispheric interaction.

The authors (Lyle et. al, 2008) tested that prediction by comparing middle-aged and older

adults on two memory tasks thought to depend on hemispheric interaction (paired

associate recall, source memory) and two thought not to (face recognition, forward digit

span). An nSR advantage was more robust for middle-aged than older subjects and,

consistent with the hemispheric interaction theory, was found only on the tasks that

depend on hemispheric interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights

reserved).

Neurological Theory of Handedness

According to Mastin (2012), one theory for the existence of handedness and hand

preference in humans, and particularly for the dominance of right-handedness, arises

from brain neurology, and the way in which fine motor skills are processed in the brain.



31

In most people, the left hemisphere of the brain is largely responsible for language

processing and for speaking (which is an activity that employs many fine motor skills,

involving the mouth, tongue, etc). The left hemisphere of the brain is also responsible for

coordinating the movement and motor skills of the right side of the body, with the right

hemisphere largely controlling the left side of the body. It is argued by some that it

is more efficient, and requires less energy consumption, for the brain to process these two

important fine motor skill functions in the same hemisphere of the brain, hence the right-

hand/left-hemisphere dominance of the majority of the population. The theory also goes

some way to explaining why non-humans, who lack the faculty of speech, have not

developed hand dominance to anything like the same extent as humans.

This idea is supported to some extent by a 2010 French study, which showed that,

when people hear spoken syllables, there is synchronized neural activity in the areas in

the left hemisphere of the brain which are involved in both speech and in hand and mouth

motions. There is no such synchronized activity in response to smaller units of speech

(phonemes). The study authors suggest that our brains are hard-wired to process speech

and language and gestures on the same side of the brain, which, for the right-handed

majority of people, is the left side. This also supports the idea that speech initially arose

from a combination of short sounds and hand gestures, typically made with the dominant

right hand.

Dominance, handedness and lateralization in terms of individuality

According to Ilja (2009), hemispheric dominance or brain dominance is an

important form of dominance since the two hemispheres actually differ in structure and



32

function. Research done by Broca and Wernicke resulted in the identification of the

language centers in the brain that were only present in one hemisphere. Broca and

Wernicke both worked with patients who suffered from different forms of aphasia‟s (the

inability to understand language, process language or form coherent sentences) (Lee,

1997). Using this information they were able to identify specific structures in the brain

responsible for language. The same was done for the non-verbal or visual parts of the

brain. Since the brain is asymmetrical the question of dominance is also a question of the

nature of processing that is preferred in the brain (Morris, 2007 and Bobby-Evans, 2009).

The specialization of specific functions in one half of the brain is called brain

lateralization. The specialization of these specific parts of the brain is thought to make it

more efficient and save space as well as resources (Harvey, 2009).

The link between handedness and hemispheric dominance is based on the simple

logic that one‟s preferred hand must mean that the hemisphere controlling this hand is

also preferred (Ilja, 2009). This means that right-side of the brain is dominant in left-

handers while the left-side of the brain is dominant in right-handers, since the brain

works contra-laterally (meaning that the left-side of the brain is responsible for the right-

side of the body and reversed) (Holder and Bobby Evans, 2009). In most people the

verbal processing (assumed to be more linear and sequential) is located on the left-side of

the brain, and the non-verbal processing (thought to be more holistic and random) on the

right-side of the brain (http://www.web-us.com/brain/LRBrain.html., 2005). As we saw

before the definition of handedness is not that simple, there are varying degrees of

handedness, and the same is true for the lateralization of the brain. Furthermore, not

everyone has this traditional organization of the brain, a small percentage of people have

http://www.web-us.com/brain/LRBrain.html

http://www.web-us.com/brain/LRBrain.html



33

a reversed organization of the structures in their respective hemispheres (from this small

percentage the majority is left-handed) (Bobby-Evans, 2009).

Although the general structure of the brain might be similar in most individuals,

this does not mean that left-handedness will result in right-side dominance of the brain.

There are many factors and varying degrees of lateralization involved in determining

hemispheric dominance as well as handedness. Handedness for example, is influenced by

genetics, learning and chance (hormone levels and conditions during pregnancy are also

thought to have an influence) (Hobbson and Dittmar, 2002). The factors determining

hemispheric dominance could be similar to those determining handedness but this does

not always have to be the case. Similarly, it is hard to isolate one single factor and see if

it is truly important in determining dominance or not. We can therefore say that it is

better to use The Wada test or brain scans over handedness as an indicator of hemispheric

dominance (Buchtel, 2004).

Synthesis

The brain dominance and handedness are related based on the literatures that the

researchers found. Brain dominance can be identified theoretically by determining the

handedness of a person. According to Price (2009) mostly left-handed people are right-

brain dominant while mostly right-handed people are left-brain dominant. Memory is also

related to brain dominance because brain dominance determines the skills or interests of a

person that helps him/her learn new information easily by its own way of learning. A

person‟s thinking process is determined by the unique way of thinking of the brain. The

left and right hemispheres of the brain have its own unique function that helps people

retain information. According to Ellen Gagne, people who are left brain dominant are



34

more on academic than people who are right brain dominant while right brain dominant

are more on sports and arts.

Brain dominance can be a factor that helps people retain information and it can be

determined by knowing the handedness of a person. If people know how to determine

their brain dominance, it can help them learn many things in their own learning style.



35

METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research design and participants of the study. It also

highlights the sampling and data gathering procedure and also the instruments and

statistical that was used in the study.

Research Design

In this study the researchers will be use the Ex Post facto design. This design is

conducted using events that have already taken place and are impossible to experiment. It

also refers to those studies which investigate possible cause and effect relationship by

observing an existing condition or state of affairs and searching back in time for possible

causal factors.

Sampling Procedures

The researchers will use the Stratified Random Sampling in selecting the

participants. Stratified Random Sample is a probability sampling technique in which the

researchers divides the entire target population into different subgroups or strata and then

randomly selects the final subjects proportionally from the different strata. The

participants were selected 4th

year high school students in TreceMartires City National

High School ( Main Campus, Cabezas Annex and Conchu Annex ), Luis Aguado

National High School and Francisco National High. The researchers will use the Slovin‟s

formula to get the sample size School.



36

Participants of the Study

The participants will be selected 4th

year high school students approximately 15 to

20 years of age who are in the adolescence stage and can be a male or a female in

TreceMartires City National High School ( Main Campus, Cabezas Annex and Conchu

Annex ), Luis Aguado National High School and Francisco Osorio National High School.

The participants is compose of 327 students. 186 students in TreceMartires City National

High School ( Main Campus ) 18 students in ( Cabezas Annex ) 21 students in ( Conchu

Annex ), 68 students in Luis Aguado National High School and 34 students in Francisco

Osorio National High School.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers requested permission from the Principal of TreceMartires City

National High School ( Main Campus, Cabezas Annex and Conchu Annex ), Luis

Aguado National High School and Francisco National High School to secure a copy of

list of names of 4th


This study will be conducted at TreceMartires City, Cavite from November to

January 2014 where the researchers will select the 4th

year high school students as their

participants. There are two instruments that will be used to gather data needed in this

study. The brain Dominance Questionnaire designed by Mariani (1996) and a Memory

Test.

First, the researchers will administer the questionnaire to the respondents. To

ensure the confidentiality of the respondents, the researchers will secure the questionnaire



37

personally. Then after the administrating, the researchers will tabulate the score of the

participants. Lastly, the researchers will interpret all the data they will gather

Research Instrument

The researchers lifted a standardized test entitled Brain Dominance Questionnaire

designed by Mariani (1996). It consists of 15 items to measure whether the students are

left brained or right brained.

Scoring.

The questionnaire measures the brain dominance that is recognized as:

Brain Dominance Score

Left- brain dominant (very strong) -15 to -13

Left-brain dominant -12 to -9

Moderate preference for the left -8 to -5

Slight Preference toward the left -4 to -1

Whole brain dominance (bilateral) 0

Slight preference toward the right dominance (bilateral) +1 to +4

Moderate preference for the right +5 to +8

Right-brain dominant +9 to +12

Right-brain dominant (very strong) +13 to +15

Interpretation of Brain Dominance

The following are the interpretation of Left brain dominant and Right brain

dominant.

Left brain dominance

Logical – capable of or reflecting the capability for correct and valid reasoning.



38

Linear, Sequential - low – intensity stimulus activates processing, dislikes

excessive point.

Rational – having reason or understanding.

Analytical – Reasoning or acting from a perception of the parts and interrelations

of a subject.

Right brain dominance

Intuitive- makes decisions based on feelings.

Divergent – solves problem through imagination.

Corrector – prefer adjustments during the task..

Interpretation of Memory Test

Scoring

Average 7 to 10

High 11 to 14

Very High 15 to 16

Statistical Analysis

Frequency and Mean will be used to answer and analyze data for the first, second

and third statement of the problem. Frequency is the number of measurements in an

interval of a frequency distribution. Mean is is one of the most useful and widely used

method to find out the average in statistics. It is calculated by adding up all the number

and dividing that sum by the total number of numbers.

The formula for Mean is as stated below:



39

∑ - represents the summation

X- represents scoresN- represents number of scores.

T- Test will be used to answer and analyze data for the fourth and fifth statement

of the problem. T – Test is a statistical test involving confidence limits for the

randomvariable t of a t distribution and used especially in testing hypotheses about means

of normal distributions when the standard deviations are unknown.

Correlation will be used to answer and analyze data for the sixth statement of the

problem. Correlation is the degree which two or more attributes or measurements on the

same group if elements show a tendency to vary together.

The researchers will use t- test. T – test is a statistical test involving means of

normal populations with unknown standard deviations; small samples are used, based on

a variable t equal to the difference between the mean of the sample and the mean of the

population divided by a result obtained by dividing the standard deviation of the sample

by the square root of the number of individuals in the sample.

thesis final manuscript complete

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