Neuroscience is highly complex, and its terminology is often difficult to comprehend. In essence, PRISM Brain Mapping’s goal is to make this complex information as practical and as easy to understand as possible. It is about enabling people with no neuroscientific background to understand and use some of the latest discoveries of brain science in their personal and business lives. In fact, neuroscience will only be truly useful in business if it can be understood by those using it.

To facilitate understanding, PRISM uses colours to illustrate the behaviour preferences. Although the PRISM model is a metaphor for brain functioning, the PRISM maps represent the dynamic interaction that takes place within the brain and is based on the principle that no one part of the brain does solely one thing and no one part of the brain acts alone. All our thoughts, emotions and actions are the results of many parts of the brain acting together.

‘Plasticity’ is the neuroscience term for the brain’s ability to change. At one time, it was believed and widely taught, that the adult brain could not change once a certain level of development had occurred. This ‘cradle to the grave’ approach taken by many traditional psychometric tests is now impossible to sustain in the light of neuroscience discoveries. Your brain is physically different today from how it was yesterday. That difference results from the effect of yesterday’s and today’s experiences, as well as the thoughts and feelings that you have entertained during the past 24 hours.

The inadequacies of dichotomous (contradictory) views of behaviour have long been recognized. Despite the best intentions of test publishers, many psychological instruments are used to describe people in terms of “either/or” e.g. Introvert v Extrovert.

PRISM shows that human behaviour is not “either/or” and that people can, and do, exhibit opposite behaviours. For example, the way in which people behave at home is often very different from the way they behave at work.

PRISM has been the subject of previous validity studies in 2003, 2006-2007.

The latest validity study was designed to ensure PRISM is not culturally biased in favour of particular ethnic groups over others. The main
focus of that study was to examine the factor structure and reliability of PRISM scales across a range of ethnic groups.

The project, led by Dr Tendayi Viki, a Chartered Psychologist and lecturer at the University, comprised three studies involving 276 university students and 298 employees, both management and non-management, from a wide variety of commercial organizations and public services.