Hemisphere differences for components of mental rotation

The hemispheric functional lateralization of components of mental rotation performance was investigated. Twenty right-handed males were presented with rotated alphanumerics and unfamiliar characters in the left or right visual field. Subjects decided if the laterally presented stimulus was identical...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBrain and cognition Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 1
Main Authors Fischer, S C, Pellegrino, J W
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.02.1988
Subjects
Adult
Attention
Discrimination Learning
Dominance, Cerebral
Form Perception
Humans
Male
Orientation
Pattern Recognition, Visual
Problem Solving
Reaction Time
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:The hemispheric functional lateralization of components of mental rotation performance was investigated. Twenty right-handed males were presented with rotated alphanumerics and unfamiliar characters in the left or right visual field. Subjects decided if the laterally presented stimulus was identical to or a mirror image of a center standard stimulus. Reaction time and errors were measured. Previous mental rotation findings were replicated and the visual field variable produced significant effects for both dependent measures. An overall right visual field advantage was observed in the latency data, suggesting a left hemisphere superiority for at least one component process of the task. A significant interaction in the error data showed that alphanumerics produced less errors in the right visual field than in the left visual field, consistent with a left hemisphere superiority for processing verbal symbolic material. No such hemispheric difference in accuracy was found for unfamiliar characters.
ISSN:0278-2626
DOI:10.1016/0278-2626(88)90017-6