BRAIN-DOMINANCE

QUESTIONNAIRE

Lets take a short quiz. Take a plain sheet of paper and

number it 1 to 15. For each question you will choose
a, b, or c.

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
DIRECTIONS: Answer the questions carefully checking the answer that
is correct for you. Select the one that most closely represents your
attitude or behavior.

1. I prefer to learn

a. details and specific facts

b. from a general overview of things, and by looking at the
whole picture
c. both ways about equally

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
2. I prefer the jobs
a. Which consist of one task at a time, and I can complete it
before beginning the next one
b. In which I work on many things at once
c. I like both kinds of jobs equally
3. I prefer to solve problems with
a. logic
b. my gut feelings
c. both logic and gut feelings

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
4. I like my work to be
a. planned so that I know exactly what to do
b. open with opportunities for change as I go along
c. both planned and open to change
5. I like to learn a movement in sports or a dance step better by

a. hearing a verbal explanation and repeating the action or step

mentally
b. watching and then trying to do it
c. watching and then imitating and talking about it

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
6. I remember faces easily
a. no
b. yes
c. sometimes

7. If I have to decide if an issue is right or correct

a. I decide on the basis of information
b. I instinctively feel it is right or correct

c. I tend to use a combination of both

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
8. I prefer
a. multiple-choice tests
b. essay tests
c. I like both kinds of tests equally
9. If I had to assemble a bicycle, I would most likely

a. lay out all the parts, count them, gather the necessary tools, and follow
the directions
b. glance at the diagram and begin with whatever tools were there,
sensing how the parts fit
c. recall past experiences in similar situations

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
10. At school, I preferred
a. algebra
b. geometry
c. I had no real preference of one over the other

11. It is more exciting to

a. improve something
b. invent something
c. both are exciting to me

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
12. I generally
a.

use time to organize work and personal activities

b. have difficulty in pacing personal activities to time limits

c. am able to pace personal activities to time limits with ease
13. Daydreaming is
a. a waste of time
b. a usable tool for planning my future
c. amusing and relaxing

BRAIN-DOMINANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
14. I can tell fairly accurately how much time has passed without looking
at a clock
a. yes
b. no
c. sometimes
15. When reading or studying, I
a. prefer total quiet
b. prefer music
c. listen to background music only when reading for enjoyment not
while studying

SCORING INSTRUCTIONS

1. Calculate the number of your a and b answers. Do not consider

your c answers.
2. Put a (-) minus sign in front of your a score and a (+) plus sign in
front of your b score.
3. Do the algebraic sum of your a and b scores.

SCORES
-15 to -13

= left=brain dominant (very strong)

-12 to -9

= left-brain dominant

-8 to -5

= moderate preference for the left

-4 to -1

= slight preference toward the left

= whole-brain dominance (bilateral)

+1 to +4

= slight preference toward the right dominance

(bilateral)

+5 to +8

= moderate preference for the right

+9 to +12

= right-brain dominant

+13 to +15

= right=brain dominant (very strong)

How Our Brain Develops

OUR FIRST BRAIN CELL (Neuron):
It begins in the womb.
On your 42nd day of life, the first neuron develops.
During the next 120 days, your brain will develop around 100 billion
neurons at a rate of 9,500 per second!
About 60 days before you are born, each neuron begins to establish
connections with other cells.

How Our Brain

Develops

Unlike any other organ in your body, your brain actually starts to get
smaller after the age of 3.
During your toddler years the neuron connections (synapses) that
you use on a regular basis become stronger. Those that are not used
on a regular basis get weaker and may even disappear.

How Our Brain Develops

By the time you are 16, you will have lost around half of your
synaptic connections.
Your character and your values will have been established you are
who you are!
Although the overall number of synaptic connections tends to
decline throughout our lives, the nature of the connections within
our brains is constantly changing.

Brain Dominance

In the picture, you can

see that the brain has
been divided into two
parts the left side and
the right side.
By looking at this picture
what can you tell about
the people on the left
versus the people on the
right?

Brain Dominance
Brain dominance is the reason why:
You act as you do
You react the way you do
You learn the way you do
You feel the way you feel

Every cell of the human body is ruled by the

brain. The brain controls how we think,
understand, see, hear, and learn.

Brain
Dominance

Differences Between Left and Right Hemisphere

Brain dominance refers to a preference for using one hemisphere (side)
of the brain over the other.
Our education system seems to favor a left-brain style, except for some
creative activities.
Each hemisphere has its own separate and private sensations, its own
perceptions, its own impulses to act.

Are you more right brained

or left brained?

Both sides of the brain are involved in nearly every human activity.

Most people seem to have a dominant side.

Our dominance is a preference, not an absolute.
When learning is new, difficult, or stressful we PREFER to learn in a
certain way.
It seems that our brain goes on autopilot to the preferred side of
the brain.

Brain Dominance
Which side of the brain do you use?

Most people use one side of the brain more than the other.
That one side of the brain even grows much bigger than the other
side.
In about 90% of people, it is the left side of the brain that is
dominant and bigger.
Some people have a mixed dominance and their brain grows larger
on both sides.

Left vs. Right

Which Side Are You On?
No one is totally left-brained or totally right-brained. Just as you
have a dominant hand, dominant eye, and even a dominant foot, you
probably have a dominant side of the brain.
You can and must develop both sides of your brain.
The left and right hemispheres of your brain process
information in different ways.
Our right and left hemispheres control the opposite side of our
bodies.

We tend to process information using our dominant side.

What are the benefits of knowing your natural

preference?
A persons Brain Dominance strongly influences the way they are.
Brain Dominance forms the foundation of ones personality.
Your dominant brain type has a very significant affect on your study skills,
homework habits, and grades.
By understanding your dominant brain type, you may be able to adjust
your study methods, and perhaps shape your schedule and coursework
to suit your own personality type.

Left Side of the Brain

Right Side of the Brain

Watch the clock constantly while in class

The bell surprises you at the end of class.

Accused of being analytical

Accused of being a dreamer

Organized

Can be very intelligent and very deep

thinkers

Often cautious
Follow rules and schedules

Great students of the social sciences and

arts

Strong in math and science

Spontaneous

Can answer questions quickly

Likely to follow their own gut feelings

Would make great Jeopardy contestants.

Great skill at seeing through lies or tricks

Would make great Survivor contestants

Left Side

Right Side

Logical

Intuitive Processing

Left brain processes in a linear,

sequential, logical manner.

The right side of the brain uses

intuition.

Your decisions are made on logic

proof.

In writing, the right side pays attention

to coherence and meaning. That is,
you right brain tells you it feels right.

In writing, it is the left brain that

pays attention to mechanics such
as spelling, agreement, and
punctuation.

Your decisions will be based on

feelings.

Left Side

Right Side

Verbal

Non-Verbal Processing

Left brain students have little

trouble expressing themselves in
words.

Right-brained students may know

what they mean but often have
trouble finding the right words.
Right-brained students need to back
up everything visually.

Left Side

Right Side

Reality-Based

Fantasy-Oriented Processing

The left side of the brain deals

with things the way they are
with reality.
Left-brained people want to
know the rules and follow them.

Right-brained students try to change

the environment.
Constantly need to ask for feedback
and reality checks.

Where did all this information come from?

Ned Herrmann began his research in 1976.
He was interested in locating the source of creativity.
This led to him finding a method of testing to measure brain dominance.
The results was the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument.
The four quadrants and four modes in the whole brain model were created
by him after over 1 million individuals took his test.
The Herrmann whole brain model has to do with person differences and
uniqueness not with good or bad, right or wrong.

Whole Brain Dominance

Brain Teaser

This is what you really want to see. If you can view this image
steadily for at least 15 minutes, your left and right brain
hemisphere are working at the same time.

Left Brain Dominance

If the majority of the time you saw the red circle only or it
appeared as if it were on top, then you are visually left brain
dominant.

Right Brain
Dominance

If the majority of the time you saw the blue circle only, or it
appeared as if it were on top, then you are visually right brain
dominant.

Brain Trivia
The brain uses 20% of the bodies energy, but makes up only 2% of the
bodys weight.
The brain feels like a ripe avocado, but looks pink because of the blood
flowing through it.
The brain generates 25 watts of power, enough to illuminate a light blub.
The brain is about the size of a cantaloupe and wrinkled like a walnut.
A newborn babys brain triples in size the first year.
The cerebellum cortex has a thickness of about 1/8, and it grows thicker as
we learn and use it.