I believe Jeff's original question (which is not included here) was whether
or not there is any EVIDENCE (which I took to mean empirical evidence) that
second language MAY be associated with relative right hemispheric dominance.
In fact, there is. I think the pig story (although I loved it) is an unfair
response to the question.
Beyond that, I think case studies (N=1) such as this one are a great way to
generate ideas for doing research, or as jumping off points for lectures
relating case studies to more controlled empirical research.
Marty Bourgeois
University of Wyoming
> ----------
> From: Tim Shearon[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 2:23 PM
> To: Bill/Hank/et al
> Subject: Re: Second Language and Brain Laterality
>
> Jeff-
> I'll try not to offend either in response to your question about the
> grandmother. Your number re laterality in right handers is a _bit_ high
> but
> a bigger issue is to remember that laterality is not complete nor is it
> absolute. Nor do we really understand the single case very well (i.e., it
> is much easier to explain what does happen than it is to predict what
> will!). Anyway, my favorite metaphorical example for the neurosciences
> (stolen from too many sources to identify its rightful owner) is, suppose
> a
> pig came into your room tonight and engaged you in conversation. You know
> you are sane and others heard the pig too. (no hallucination or delusion).
> Somehow you can be sure trickery is not afoot! (no hidden microphones,
> etc.) Would you argue that you will not believe a pig can talk until you
> see at least 100 pigs do it? Another way to say it is that if the student
> is correct and her grandmama lost English but not French (a single case),
> conjecture as to laterality (a general tendency) seems superfluous if not
> a
> waste of time. Which reminds me of the other pig story. Don't try to teach
> a pig to sing- it wastes your time and annoys the pig.:) We can, however,
> remind students and each other to be careful how we generalize from
> specific instances (however odd or convincing they might be) to the level
> of rule or expectancy (i.e., a single talking pig is enough to convince me
> that a pig could talk. On the other hand, it wouldn't increase the
> likelihood of finding another one any time soon or establish any
> generality
> for the pigs!).
> I suppose now I'm going to hear from some porcine rights group ;) (just
> kidding)
> Tim
>
>
>
> >A student in one of my courses stated that, after her grandmother's
> >stroke, she lost the ability to speak her second language (English), but
> >was still able to speak her native language (French). This, I know, is
> >not uncommon. What interested me in this case was that my student stated
> >that the LEFT side of her grandmother's body was paralyzed
> >(right-hemisphere stroke) and that her grandmother was right-handed
> >(language functions associated predominantly with activity in the left
> >hemisphere in over 95% of right-handers).
>
> _______________________________________________________
> Timothy O. Shearon, PhD
> Albertson College of Idaho
> Department of Psychology
> 2112 Cleveland Blvd
> Caldwell, Idaho
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 208-459-5840
>
>
