Ace A Level Psychology OCR 2026 – Unlock Your Mind Power!

The procedure used by Sperry et al. (1968) involved participants being seated in front of a screen while images were presented for a brief period. This method was significant because it allowed researchers to investigate the functioning of the brain's hemispheres in individuals who had undergone a corpus callosotomy, a surgical procedure that disconnects the two hemispheres of the brain. By flashing images very quickly on the screen, often to just one visual field, Sperry could assess how each hemisphere processed information independently.

This approach was particularly effective in exploring lateralization of brain function, where the left hemisphere is typically associated with language processing and the right hemisphere with spatial and visual tasks. The short duration of the images ensured that participants could not look for additional context or rely on memory to respond, providing insight into the immediate processing capabilities of each hemisphere, which was central to the study’s aims.

In contrast, recalling images after a delay would rely on memory processes that were not the focus of Sperry's experiment. Completing written questionnaires and engaging in discussions about perceptions would not provide the same direct investigation of hemispheric function and would rather gather subjective data rather than assessing visual processing directly.