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Research
More than 200 000 adults and children from across
the globe have already benefited from the Neethling
Brain Instruments (NBI), - the most comprehensive
battery of whole brain creativity instruments
in the world.You can do that as well, so that you will be able to also go to college,
do a course like elearners or whatever it is
that you always wanted to achieve.
NBI assessment tools enable both individuals
and organizations to discover and apply their
hidden potential. An NBI assessment provides
powerful insight into an individual's thinking
preferences. These tools assess a person's thinking
preferences rather than qualifications (such as
experience, education or developed skills), attributes,
or personality characteristics.
By focusing on thinking preferences, a whole
brain approach allows individuals and organizations
to think more creatively. It assists and stimulates
thinking agility. Creative thinking in turn, results
in organizational vision, strategic planning and
effective navigational decision-making.
Once implemented, these assessment tools allow
both people and organizations to enhance their
effectiveness, productivity, and performance.
The assessments provide the following benefits
to individuals and organizations:
- Deepen understanding of self and others
- Optimize individual performance
- Enhance communication
- Create stronger relationships
- Strengthen decision making
- Improve team effectiveness
- Enhance leadership capacity
- Motivate others more effectively
- Minimize interpersonal conflicts
Our assessment tools are based upon the well-established
concept and research about thinking preferences,
which are localized within the brain.
Physiologically, the brain consists of two halves,
or hemispheres. Each hemisphere controls the movement
and vision on the opposite side of the body.
Early scientists found that the human brain consists
of millions of small cells called neurons. Each
of these cells has a central nucleus from which
octopus-like tentacles move outwards. Prof Pyotir
Anokhin (a student of Pavlov) found that it is
not the number of cells that determine intelligence
and creativity, but the ability of the brain (the
tentacles of the neurons) to make connections
and so create new systems and patterns.
In 1981 Roger Sperry received the Nobel Prize
in Physiology "for his discoveries concerning
the functional specialization of the cerebral
hemispheres". Sperry, his student Michael Gazzinga
and the neurosurgeon Joseph Bogden, performed
the first 'split brain operation', and can be
credited with some of the most important insights
we have of the physiology of the brain today.
After the first successful 'split brain' operation
on a patient suffering from severe epilepsy, similar
operations were performed on numerous other patients.
The operation entails the severing of the corpus
callosum, which is the main connection between
the left- and right hemispheres of the brain.
The corpus callosum consists of more than 200
million nerve fibers. Without this connection,
each of the two hemispheres of the brain functions
virtually independently, largely unaware of the
other hemisphere. Sperry's operation made it possible,
for the first time, to study the separate functions
of the two hemispheres of the brain. A large number
of experiments followed Sperry's success, and
were mostly focused on the identification of the
processes of thought associated with each of the
hemispheres.
Sperry discovered that each hemisphere had its
own specialist functions, confirming a hypothesis
that had existed for a number of years. Sperry
himself declared, 'Each disconnected hemisphere
appears to have a mind of its own'. A very practical
example of this came when one of Sperry's patients
got involved in an argument with his wife. The
patient reached out to grab her with his one hand,
but to everyone's surprise, the other hand immediately
grabbed the aggressive hand back.
Although the average person is not confronted
with this extreme kind of behavior (largely because
our corpus calossum is still in place), it has
become clear that most of us prefer the functions
and processes of one of the two hemispheres to
the other.
The first four-quadrant instrument was developed
by Ned Herrman in 1981. Herrman's studies of Sperry's
split brain studies and Paul McLean's 'Triune
Brain Model' lead to a combination theory, based
on a metaphorical model of four quadrants.
Building on the work of Herrman and Paul Torrance,
Kobus Neethling determined that both the left
and right brain processes (as originally categorized
by Sperry) could be divided into two definitive
categories, effectively dividing the brain into
four quadrants.
Between 1988 and 1991, 2000 adults and 1500 pupils
(with an equal distribution between 10 and 19
years of age) were included in research groups
to test Neethling's model. A question with four
possible responses was posed to each of the subjects,
who then had to arrange their personal thinking
preferences from the strongest to the lowest.
The choices for each question were based on the
thinking processes belonging to the four different
quadrants. Neethling found that thinking preferences
fell equally into four preference-clusters, corresponding
to the four quadrants. Both the validity and reliability
levels of each of the quadrants were found to
be higher than 80.
Psychometric testing versus
didactics:
We are often asked to explain the difference
between psychometric testing and the didactical
methodologies that form the basis of the battery
of NBI Instruments. A popular definition of psychometric
testing is found in the American Heritage Dictionary
of the English Language:
"The branch of psychology that deals with the
design, administration and interpretation of quantitative
tests for the measurement of psychological variables
such as intelligence, aptitude, and personality
traits. Also called psychometry."
The focus is on variables such as intelligence,
aptitude and personality traits, but the definition
makes no mention of the development of these traits
- designing, administering and interpreting -
but not developing!
Didactics is generally defined as the science
of learning. It includes the theories, findings,
recommended actions and skills that are essential
for successful teaching and instruction.
Didactics is thus of key importance in the development
of a learning and teaching system. In the wider
sense, it refers (with reference to the NBI) to
the:
- appraisal of a person's thinking preferences
(the whole brain profile).
- the understanding and implementation of the
acquired whole brain thinking knowledge.
- and ultimately the fundamental goal of the
NBI is that the individual (and group) will
develop the skills to not only apply the thinking
preferences from within his/her strong and comfort
zones, but also from within his/her least preferred
zones.
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