Selective inhibition of vocal reaction time to aversive words in the left visual field

Four experiments are reported in which subjects vocalized words presented in the visual half-fields in a baseline period. Then two of the words were followed by aversive noise in a punishment phase, and finally, the baseline procedure was repeated. In two studies, as predicted, right handed males' reaction time improved least on words associated with the punished words when they appeared in the left visual field and had to cross from right to left hemisphere to be vocalized. The effect was not found among female subjects in the third study. Finally, the effect was found only among subjects in the highest third on the Repression-Sensitization scale. Taken together, the studies support the notion of selective inhibition of aversive processes that must cross from right to left hemispheres, although individual differences limit the generalizability of this statement.