Evidence for two types of spatial representations: Hemispheric specialization for categorical and coordinate relations.

TLDR

Analyses of human object recognition abilities led to the hypothesis that two kinds of spatial relation representations are used in human vision. Four experiments showed that categorical spatial judgments (on/off, left/right, above/below) are faster when stimuli are first presented to the left hemisphere, while distance judgments are faster when presented to the right hemisphere, and that categorical representations improve with practice.

Abstract

Analyses of human object recognition abilities led to the hypothesis that 2 kinds of spatial relation representations are used in human vision. Evidence for the distinction between abstract categorical spatial relation representations and specific coordinate spatial relation representations was provided in 4 experiments. These results indicate that Ss make categorical judgments--on/off, left/right, and above/below--faster when stimuli are initially presented to the left cerebral hemisphere, whereas they make evaluations of distance--in relation to 2 mm, 3 mm, or 1 in. (2.54 cm)--faster when stimuli are initially presented to the right cerebral hemisphere. In addition, there was evidence that categorical representations developed with practice.