Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia
Abstract
The role of the cerebral hemispheres in processing spatial relationships is outlined in Kosslyn \u27s (1987) theory that states that there are two separate subsystems for processing spatial relations: one located in the left hemisphere (LHem) that is more efficient at processing categorical information, and one in the right hemisphere (RHem) that is more efficient at processing coordinate information. To test Kosslyn\u27s theory, this study manipulated two IVs in a within-subjects design, task: categorical and coordinate; and visual field (VF): left and right Male and female face stimuli were presented in either the left visual field (LVF) to the (RHem) or the right visual field (RVF) to the (LHem), Forty-four, right-handed participants (13 males and 31 females) made 40 categorical and 48 coordinate judgements, Separate two-way repeated measures ANOVAs were performed on both judgement types in both VFs for the two DVs of mean response time (RT) and percentage correct A significant interaction was predicted between VF and judgement type with a faster mean RT for the LFV /RHem on the coordinate than on the categorical judgements and a faster mean RT for the RVF/LHem on the categorical than on the coordinate judgements, However, although there were significant main effects for task on both RTs and percent correct, no other effects were found. These results do not provide support for Kosslyn \u27s theory that categorical and coordinate spatial relations are processed differentially by each hemisphere
