Handedness and Differential Perception of Verbal Stimuli in Left and Right Visual Fields

Abstract

This study investigated the role of cerebral dominance in the consistent finding of lower tachistoscopic thresholds in the right than in the left field for alphabetic stimuli. Eight left- and 12 right-handed Ss were presented with three-letter words, printed vertically, through a monocular tachistoscope, displaced to left or right by 2°6′. Significantly lower thresholds in the right field were found for both groups and for both eyes. The finding does not support the hypothesis that visual stimuli arriving in the major cerebral hemisphere are more readily perceived as language.