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Does right hemisphere superiority sufficiently explain the left visual field advantage in face recognition?
Matthew T Harrison1, Lars Strother2
1Department of Psychology, University of Nevada Reno, MS0296, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV, 89557, USA. mt.harrison@gmail.com.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|November 28, 2019
Summary
The right hemisphere (RH) shows a left visual field (LVF) advantage for face processing. This advantage requires upright faces and competition for resources, challenging RH specialization alone as an explanation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Visual Perception
Background:
- The right hemisphere (RH) is specialized for face processing.
- A left visual field (LVF) advantage is typically observed for centrally viewed faces, suggesting RH involvement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate conditions under which the LVF half-face advantage fails.
- To challenge explanations solely based on RH specialization and LVF-RH correspondence.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments used normal and chimeric faces to assess the LVF advantage.
- Three experiments manipulated face orientation (upright/inverted) and presentation (isolated/paired) to examine the LVF advantage.
Main Results:
- The LVF half-face advantage occurred for normal and chimeric faces.
- Face inversion disrupted the LVF advantage.
- Isolated or inverted half-faces did not show the LVF advantage.
Conclusions:
- RH superiority for face processing and direct LVF information transfer to RH visual cortex contribute to the LVF advantage.
- A third factor, prioritizing face-processing resources to the LVF during competition between upright faces, is crucial.
- RH superiority alone is insufficient to explain the LVF advantage in face recognition.
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