Visual field differences in an object decision task.

Two experiments are reported which investigate hemispheric processing in an object decision task. Experiment 1 used 40 pictures of objects, and 40 pictures of nonobjects, and subjects decided manually whether each lateralized stimulus represented an object. Results indicated an interaction between visual field and response (yes versus no). There was a right visual field advantage for positive responses, but no difference between visual field for negative responses. Positive responses were faster than negative responses, and this effect was more marked for right visual field presentations. These results were replicated in a second experiment. The results are interpreted as reflecting a left hemisphere superiority at accessing stored structural descriptions of known objects. The possibility that left and right hemispheres use different methods of carrying out the task is also discussed.