Accuracy of naming laterally presented known faces by children and adults

Two experiments investigating asymmetries in the naming of laterally presented known faces are reported. In Experiment I, upright and inverted faces of classmates or colleagues were presented bilaterally and unilaterally to seven-year-old children, eleven-year-old children, and adults. A LVF (left visual hemifield) superiority was found for naming upright faces, unrelated to age. For inverted faces there was no difference between the visual hemifields. In Experiment II faces of famous people were used as stimuli. When adult subjects were given little indication as to which faces to expect (Condition A) there was no difference between the visual hemifields. When they were given a list of the faces to be used (Condition B) a LVF naming superiority was found. The results are interpreted as indicating superiority of the right cerebral hemisphere for a component of the processing of known faces that is of importance when the subject knows which faces he can expect to see.