The relationship between ‘impulsiveness’ and hemispheric functional asymmetry, investigated with a divided visual field word recognition task

• Published in: Personality and individual differences Vol. 13; no. 3; pp. 355 - 360
• Main Authors: van den Broek, M.D., Bradshaw, C.M., Szabadi, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.1992; Elsevier
• Subjects: Anatomical correlates of behavior; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Human; Impulsivity; Word; Hemispheric specialization; Visual field; Central nervous system; Personality; Asymmetry; Language; Information processing; Anxiety; Age; Recognition; Intelligence quotient
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/0191-8869(92)90114-5

Thirty-six subjects underwent a divided visual field recognition task in which four-letter words were presented tachistoscopically in the left and right visual hemifields. The percentage of words presented in the right hemifield which were correctly reported (R%) was significantly negatively correlated with a measure of impulsiveness derived from the Matching Familiar Figures Test. Independent relations between R% and age, estimated IQ, and trait anxiety were also found. There was no significant relation between the percentage of words presented in the left hemifield which were correctly reported (L%) and impulsiveness. The results are consistent with the suggestion that processing of verbal information by the left cerebral hemisphere may be less efficient in impulsive than in normal individuals.