Hemispheric specialization and individual differences in visual information processing.
Item
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Title
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Hemispheric specialization and individual differences in visual information processing.
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Identifier
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AAI8820901
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identifier
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8820901
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Creator
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Sherman, Rochelle Schwartz.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Jane Healey
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Date
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1988
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Experimental
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Abstract
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Sergent (1982d,e) developed a theory of hemispheric specialization in which superiorities for processing verbal/spatial and verbal/analytic information is related to hemispheric specialization for processing spatial frequencies. She theorized that the right hemisphere (RH) is better at processing low spatial frequencies and the left hemisphere (LH) is specialized at processing high spatial frequencies. The present study sought to replicate and extend Sergent's theory by examining patterns of hemispheric superiority as a function of spatial frequency, gender and cognitive strategies. Eighteen right handed males and 18 right handed females were tested in a variation of Sergent's original experimental procedure. Spatial frequency was manipulated by rapidly presenting large letters (i.e. low spatial frequency components) constructed of small letters (i.e. high spatial frequency components) on a computer screen in the left and right visual fields. A response consisted of the depression of the keyboard space bar. Subjects were asked to depress the bar if a defined target letter appeared as either the large or small letter (or both). Response times were measured in milliseconds. In a counterbalanced design procedure, half of the subjects were instructed to process the stimuli in a large-to-small processing order while the other half were instructed to process the stimuli in a small-to-large order.;Sergent's findings were partially replicated in that RH superiorities occurred when the large letters were target letters. Conversely, LH superiorities occurred when the small letters were target letters. However, these predicted patterns were found in only half of the subjects.;Instructional strategy did influence the direction of hemipheric superiority but not as dramatically as expected and not consistently. There were no sex differences in response times, laterality patterns or performance on cognitive tests. However, females showed much stronger laterality patterns. Overall, the findings tended to support Sergent's basic premise, although the present findings auggest that individual differences can differ from group effects and that important individual differences, such as sex differences in the degree and patterning of laterality, can be masked by group effects.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
