Franklin, Anna, Catherwood, Di, Alvarez, James and Axelsson, Emma (2010) Hemispheric asymmetries in categorical perception of orientation in infants and adults. Neuropsychologia, 48 (9). pp. 2648-2657. ISSN 0028-3932

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Orientation CP is the faster or more accurate discrimination of two orientations from different categories (e.g., oblique1 and vertical1) compared to two orientations from the same category (e.g., oblique1 and oblique2), even when the degree of difference is equated across conditions. Here, we assess whether there are hemispheric asymmetries in this effect for adults and 5-month-old infants. Experiment 1 identified the location of the vertical–oblique category boundary. Experiment 2, using a visual search task with oriented lines found that adult search was more accurate when the target and distractors were from different orientation categories, compared to targets and distractors of an equivalent physical difference taken from the same category. This effect was stronger for targets lateralized to the left visual field (LVF) than the right visual field (RVF), indicating a right hemisphere (RH) bias in adult orientation CP. Experiment 3, replicated the RH bias using different stimuli and also investigated the impact of visual and verbal interference on the category effect. Experiment 4, using the same visual search task, found that infant search was also faster when the target and distractors were from different orientation categories than the same, yet this category effect was stronger for RVF than LVF lateralized targets, indicating a LH bias in orientation CP at 5 months. These findings are contrasted to equivalent studies on the lateralization of color CP (e.g., Gilbert, Regier, Kay, & Ivry, 2005). The implications for theories on the contribution of the left and right hemispheres of the infant and adult brain to categorical computations are discussed.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Psychology > Psychology
Depositing User:	Anna Franklin
Date Deposited:	06 Feb 2012 15:48
Last Modified:	06 Jun 2019 09:08
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/14514

📧 Request an update