Inferred Hemispheric Style and Problem-Solving Performance

Abstract

To examine the relationship between an inferred hemispheric style and problem-solving performance, 78 undergraduate students were classified as having preferences of Left-, Integrated-, or Right-hemispheric style by scores on Your Style of Learning and Thinking. The Tower of Hanoi was used as a measure of problem solving. Number of moves, total time, and number of illegal moves to solve the Tower of Hanoi task were the dependent measures of problem-solving performance. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among the three inferred hemispheric-style groups on two of the three measures of problem solving. Further comparison indicated that students who scored as showing Left-hemispheric style reported more moves and a longer mean time to solve the task than did students scoring as Right-hemispheric style. No differences were observed among the three groups on the number of illegal moves.