Abstract
The dissociable neural subsystems theory proposes that left-hemisphere (LH) performance is dominated by a viewpoint-invariant (VI) recognition subsystem, whereas right-hemisphere (RH) performance is dominated by a viewpoint-dependent (VD) subsystem (Marsolek, 1999). Studies supporting this theory have used familiar objects and, therefore, may have been confounded by characteristics beyond perceptual features. Experiment 1, a lateralized sequential-matching task with novel objects, showed VD recognition in both hemispheres. In Experiment 2, some participants learned semantic associations for four novel objects, whereas others were exposed to the novel objects without the semantic associations. Both groups later performed a depth-rotated lateralized sequential-matching task. The participants who had learned semantic associations showed greater VD performance in the RH than in the LH; however, the participants in the control group showed equivalent VD performance in both hemispheres. The results suggest that hemispheric differences in VD performance may be partially attributable to an LH advantage for semantic processing.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 100-111 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience |
Volume | 4 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This study was supported by Grant CUHK4332/00H from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR to W.G.H. and by NSF Grant 0091752 to I.G.