Different majors at the University focus on different areas of concentration, and students in various fields may attribute their preferences to a certain side of the brain.
Drew Gouvier, a psychology professor, said there are differences between the left and right brain and dominance in one side could lead someone to be better at some skills than others.
“The left brain is specialized in language and is responsible for language output,” Gouvier said. “It doesn’t have much appreciation for art. The right side has more receptive skills, and it’s more drama and arts.”
He said there are two ways to give directions just as there are two sides of the brain that process information in different ways.
“One is sequential processing while the other is more concerned with the big picture,” Gouvier said.
He said right-brained people usually use concept studying when preparing for tests and draw shapes or ideas to understand lessons. Left-brained people tend to use applications for studying skills and do better with laying things out in an outline, he said.
“Right-brained people are more interested in going by intuition and have things manifested in creativity,” Gouvier said. “They’re more likely to think outside of the box. Left-brained people rely more on logics and presentation.”
Devon Sellers, a landscape architect junior, said she is more right-brained and does better with the design aspect of her major.
“I started out in engineering, but it was a lot of dynamics and computer programming,” Sellers said. “It was terrible. The great thing about landscape architecture is that it uses art and design, but you also have to memorize plants and concepts.”
She said she grew up trained on her left side, but she thinks more on her right and considers herself a visual learner.
“I made really bad grades in everything except [landscape architecture],” Sellers said. “I can’t do history because I can’t sit there and do things straight from the book. I need to be hands-on or putting things on a map.”
Royston Siow, an electrical engineering graduate student, said he is more left-brained and likes the technical side of his major.
“It is like art in a sense because we create circuits,” Siow said. “But I’ve had artist friends tell me what I do is so technical. It’s just that our pallet is numbers and circuits instead of paints.”
He said his inspiration came from a present given by his parents.
“When my parents bought me that first set of Legos, I was set,” Siow said. “If you ask anybody in here, they might tell you Legos were a big part of their lives.”
Casey Leake, an electrical engineering senior, said he does not think he is very creative and cannot draw.
“I was always good at math,” Leake said. “Everybody colors when they’re little, and I guess I was good at it, but I just hated it.”
Gouvier said writing left- or right-handed does not determine which side of the brain will be more dominant, although it has been a popular myth.
“In my generation, [people] were afraid that left-handedness was a sign of feeble- mindedness, so we were encouraged to write with our right,” he said. “Some of that still carries on today, but there is no reason to force a child to write with their right hand because the brain is going to be more dominant on one side naturally.”