Left- and right-hemispheric thinking

  • Published: 02-26-2014 Edited: 02-26-2014
  • "It seems plausible that emotional memories activate the limbic system and the right hemisphere. Consequently, the memories are encoded in the right hemisphere polysemantic context. They become connected with a large number of other memories and become more accessible for retrieval. In fact, the above mentioned findings underscore the context-bound quality of our memories. Whether a particular memory would be encoded in the polysemantic context or in the monosemantic one, depends more on the context of learning, than on the learned material itself. This context enables a particular cognitive or emotional attitude towards the material, self-involvement, and ability to perceive the world in creative and polysemantic terms as opposed to strict, formal, and even an alienated attitude towards the learned material. Thus, encoding context stimulates formation of particular internal context of every subject. That is, if encoding context is based on self-involvement and multiple meaning the internal context is maintained by the right hemisphere. On the contrary, when the encoding context is formal and not self-related the internal context is maintained by the left hemisphere. The retrieval context can stimulate either the left hemisphere or the right hemisphere. This process leads to influence of encoding and retrieval context on memory."

    "Left-hemispheric or formal, logical thinking organizes any sign material (whether symbolic or iconic) so as to create a strictly ordered and unambiguously understood context. Its formation requires the active choice out of innumerable, real and potential connections between the multiform objects and phenomena of few definite connections which would not create internal contradictions. This choice would be the one most natural to facilitate a sequential analysis. A strategy of thinking of this type makes it possible to build a pragmatically convenient, but simplified model of reality. This model is based on probability forecasting and a search for concrete cause-and-effect relations. It is precisely for this model that the vector-time orientation exists. In contrast, the function of right-hemispheric or image thinking is to simultaneously "capture" an infinite number of connections and the formation, due to this capture, of an integral but ambiguous context. In this context the whole is not determined by its components, since all specific features of the whole are determined only by interconnections between these parts. On the contrary, any concrete element of such a context bears a determining stamp of the whole. Perception at each concrete moment is brought in line with the entire past experience, with the already shaped picture of the world, and with impacts to such a capture the status of thinking."

    http://www.rjews.net/v_rotenberg/human.html#.Uw40u14nOAx

    So in relation to Neojungian Model:
    * Organic memories will be stored in the longterm declarative episodic memory, and will be close related to the use of the limbic system.
    * Deterministic memories will be stored in the longterm declarative semantic memory, and will not be related to the use of the limbic system.