Experimental testing of constructivism and related theories.
The purpose of this article is to show that experimental scientific methods can be applied to explain how the analytic mechanism of the left cerebral hemisphere and the synthetic mechanism of the right one create complex cognitive constructions like ontology and mathematics. Nominalism and ordinal mathematical concepts are related to the analytic left hemisphere while Platonism and cardinal mathematical concepts are related to the synthetic right one. Thus persons with a dominant left hemisphere tend to prefer nominalist ontology and have more aptitude for ordinal mathematics than for cardinal mathematics, while persons with a dominant right hemisphere tend to prefer platonist ontology and have more aptitude for cardinal mathematics than for ordinal mathematics. It is further explained how the Kantism temporal mode of perceiving experience can be related to the left hemisphere while the Kantian spatial mode of perceiving experience can be related to the right hemisphere. This relation can be tested experimentally, thus the Kantian source of constructivism, and through it constructivism itself, can be tested experimentally.
Fidelman
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Department of General Studies, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D010684:Philosophy