Some time ago we posted an article that showed that a unicellular organism called slimeball could solve the planning of the British rail network better than the Brits did. Now it might be time to smirk on the other side of our face because, as Sarah Wallwork, the tireless Honours student who had the misfortune of getting me as a supervisor, will point out. Sarah’s Honours project is on left/right judgments of neck rotation. She discovered some very interesting things, which have led to this little piece:
For those of us who drive on the left-hand side of the road, giving way to the right may seem like common sense – so we don’t get cleaned up by the next car that comes along. However, there is some evidence suggesting that attending to the right is more common than we thought, and perhaps brain chemistry may too play a role. A rather novel study by Groeppel-Klein and Bartmann (2008) discusses how an asymmetry of dopamine within the brain may contribute to an increase in consumer spending and better consumers’ perception of orientation in a store that directs shoppers in a clockwise, rather than an anti-clockwise, direction.
So, why would we be more likely to spend more money being orientated clockwise than anti-clockwise? Well… studies using rats have revealed that a higher concentration of dopamine in one side of the brain related to a movement bias towards the opposite side (Zimmerberg, Glick & Jerussi 1974). Applying this theory to the shopping study, Groeppel-Klein and Bartmann (2008) suggested that perhaps the higher the concentration of dopamine in the left side of the brain, the more our attention (as consumers) is directed towards the right – or the interior of the store when guided in a clockwise direction. Furthermore, apparently we shoppers also have a general orientation towards the store’s periphery – as this makes us feel more secure. So when in a clockwise orientated store, not only are we attending to the store interior (right) – because this is what our brain chemistry is telling us – but we also have a tendency to steer to the store periphery (left) – because this is what our instinct for security is telling us. The authors also thought that consumers seemed to have a more detailed mental map of the store when directed clockwise, further supporting reports of ease of orientation.
If this is the case, perhaps we do have a tendency to attend more to our right? And what else is our brain chemistry making us do without our conscious consent?
About Sarah
Sarah Wallwork is a 4th (and final!) year physiotherapy student at the University of South Australia. She absolutely loves these shoeish socky things that are ‘just like bare feet only glass-proof’. At the moment she is doing the final touches of an honours thesis in normative responses for a left/right neck rotation judgment task, but, to be honest, she has gone more than the extra yard to make this not a good thesis, but an exceptional one. She reckons she is going to do clinical work for a while, but I bet it is not too long before her enquiring spirit sends her back to the dark side. Clearly, she did not write this bio.
References:
Groeppel-Klein, A & Bartmann, B (2008). Anti-Clockwise or Clockwise? The Impact of Store Layout on the Process of Orientation in a Discount Store European Advances in Consumer Research, 8, 415
Zimmerberg, B., Glick, S., & Jerussi, T. (1974). Neurochemical Correlate of a Spatial Preference in Rats Science, 185 (4151), 623-625 DOI: 10.1126/science.185.4151.623
All blog posts should be attributed to their author, not to BodyInMind. That is, BodyInMind wants authors to say what they really think, not what they think BodyInMind thinks they should think. Think about that!
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“what else is our brain chemistry making us do without our conscious consent?”
Pretty much everything?
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I’m by no means a scientist(just a chronic pain sufferer)but I do read a lot “out there” and fnd some things fascinating. Like this Left-Right thing.
I’m a ballroom dance teacher(when I can) and ballroom dances always move around the room counterclockwise. Whenever I go to a store an exhibition etc. I always, without thinking about it, attack the room counterclockwise. Built in conditioning perhaps, or something else? Incidentally, in these days of digital clocks a large number of studens don’t seem to understand the term counter or anti clockwise!
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Does handedness relate to this finding at all? I wonder how many right handed people were tested vs. lefties, and if their brain chemistry plays a role in hand preference?
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Sarah Reply:
September 10th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Hi Diane! Thanks for your comments!
As far as I know, handedness was not measured in this study, however they do mention that most shops guide customers in an anti-clockwise direction – justified by most people being right-handed.
I find all this left/right preferences very interesting. There is literature suggesting that just as we have a hand preference, we also have an eye preference, an ear preference (orientating one ear more than the other to a sound source), foot preference, a whole body turning bias, and even a left/right preference when holding a baby (irrespective of handedness)!!! Further to this, there is some suggestion that perhaps a left/right body part preference is pre-exhisting, but becomes reinforced throughout life and experience – that is, if you have an initial preference to use the right hand, the more you use it, the stronger this preference becomes over time.
How much our brain chemistry influences our left/right preferences – I wouldn’t have a clue, but it seems that whether we favour our left or right can vary from body part to body part.
Its an interesting thing to ponder…
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My understanding is that traditional Japanese gardens are always intended to be traversed counterclockwise. I have no idea what that implies here.
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Interesting-
i’m currently reading a book called The Master and His Emissary- the divided brain and the making of the Western World. by Iain Mcgilcrist an apparently emminent dude. His thesis is not new but perhaps alot more balanced than some of the stuff on hemispheric differences. Its a huge tomb and i’ve not read much but although the right hemisphere will attend to the whole visual field and periphery ( out of right eye?) in a global manner while the left only attend to the right space( out of the right eye)and in a much more narrowly focused way.
Now encouraging greedy consumers its probably important to encourage that left hemisphere focus onto individual items and away from a bigger picture view of do I really need this. Peripherys are right hemi – left eye affairs and likewise Ballroom dancing and Japanese Zen gardens engage a global sense of attention and appreciation so it would make sense for them to be moving left.
McGilcrist’s primary thesis that the differences in the type of attention, modes of experience and fundamentaly opposed realities created in the hemispheres has a profound effect on how we experience the world -depending on which hemisphere dominates or how integrated they are.
This is being played out in western culture that is currently dominated by the left hemisphere local bit focus -think biomed as opposed to a BPS ( hopefully an integration of both hemispheres) model struggling for a foothold.
Anyway, this is abit late on but i only just read the article.
wonder what hemisphere differences might mean to the left right questions?
regards
Lloyd
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