文摘
Divided visual-field research suggests that attentional factors may contribute to the left hemispheres (LH) superiority for language processing. The LHs parallel recognition strategy, specialised for whole word encoding, is largely unaffected by the distribution of spatial attention. In contrast, the right hemispheres (RH) serial, letter-by-letter strategy places far greater demands on attentional resources. By manipulating spatial attention, the present study gauged the effect of cueing the beginning vs. the end of the word on LH and RH naming latency. Results indicated no effect of cue position on LH performance, consistent with research indicating that the LH enjoys an attentional advantage, deploying attention in parallel across the stimulus. As anticipated, the RH showed a facilitatory effect of beginning cue, which draws spatial attention to the initial letter cluster, enabling efficient implementation of the RHs sequential strategy. These findings suggest that differences in attentional deployment contribute to hemispheric asymmetries for word recognition.