Asymmetries in tachistoscopic word recognition: scanning effects re-examined

To investigate the role of scanning biases in visual half field studies, native readers of Hindi (a language written and read from left-to-right) and Urdu (a language written and read from right to left) were tested in a language analogue of the Stroop paradigm. Subjects had to identify the script (Hindi vs. Urdu) in which the words referring to the two languages Hindi and Urdu were presented. Greater RVF than LVF interference was obtained in both groups, indicating a left hemisphere specialization for lexical functioning independent of scanning biases.