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Opposite Visual Hemifield Superiorities in Face Recognition as a Function of Cognitive Style USPHS

Author(s):
Rapaczynski, Wanda; Ehrlichman, Howard
Publication Year:
1978
Report Number:
RB-78-21
Source:
ETS Research Bulletin
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
23
Subject/Key Words:
United States Public Health Service (USPHS), Cognitive Style, Field Dependence Independence, Cerebral Dominance, Tachistoscopes, Visual Stimuli

Abstract

Twenty-four women, classified as field dependent or field independent on the Rod-and-Frame Test, memorized sets of upright and inverted faces and were then tested for recognition in a tachistoscopic visual hemifield paradigm using upright and inverted faces as probes. A significant triple interaction of probe orientation, visual hemified and cognitive style was found. For upright probes, field independent subjects responded faster and more accurately when probes were in the left visual field; in contrast, field dependent subjects showed a right visual field advantage. For inverted probes, there was little evidence of lateralization. The findings are interpreted as reflecting different strategies used by these subjects for tachistoscopic face discrimination; however, this interpretation rests upon a particular model of laterality effects. (23pp.)

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