A person who has had his corpus callosum cut is briefly shown a picture of a spoon in his left visual field. Which of the following accurately describes what he will be able to do? He will say that he saw ____________.
A)a spoon
B)nothing but would be able to select a spoon from among a group of objects with his left hand
C)nothing but would be able to select a spoon from among a group of objects with his right hand
D)nothing and no matter how we test him, he shows no indication of ever having seen the spoon

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The corpus callosum connects the two hemispheres of the brain, allowing them to communicate. When it is cut, information presented to one hemisphere cannot be transferred to the other. The left visual field is processed by the right hemisphere, which controls the left hand. Thus, a person with a severed corpus callosum would not be able to verbally identify an object seen in the left visual field (because speech is controlled by the left hemisphere), but could select the object with their left hand, as the right hemisphere can guide the action without needing to verbally identify the object.

A Person Who Has Had His Corpus Callosum Cut Is