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The effect of complexity upon hemispheric specialization for reading Chinese characters

J Coney1

  • 1Department of Psychology, Murdoch University, Western Australia. coney@socs.murdoch.edu.au

Neuropsychologia
|April 16, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Research on Chinese character processing suggests hemisphere specialization is linked to spatial frequency, not visual complexity. Studies indicate a left hemisphere advantage develops with increasing character complexity, challenging prior right hemisphere theories.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Previous research indicates a right hemisphere advantage for processing Chinese and Japanese characters.
  • Contradictory findings exist, suggesting underlying factors for lateral asymmetry are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if visual complexity (stroke number) of single Chinese characters relates to a right hemisphere processing advantage.
  • To explore alternative explanations for observed hemispheric asymmetries in character recognition.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental manipulation of Chinese character complexity (stroke number).
  • Assessment of hemispheric processing advantages using behavioral or neuroimaging techniques (details not specified in abstract).

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Main Results:

  • Increasing visual complexity of Chinese characters was associated with a shift towards a left hemisphere advantage.
  • The hypothesis that visual complexity drives a right hemisphere advantage was disconfirmed.

Conclusions:

  • Hemispheric specialization for Chinese character processing is not solely determined by visual complexity.
  • Results support an interpretation based on the interplay between hemisphere specialization and stimulus spatial frequency.