Lateral differences in face processing: task and modality effects.
According to Sergent and Bindra (1981), the literature suggests that faces are better processed in the right visual field for identification tasks and in the left field for discriminative tasks. We have tried to test this hypothesis directly along with the degree of generalization in tactile modality. A sample of 16 young normal subjects were given a face identification task in the visual and tactile modalities. The faces were first associated with names and then laterally displayed for 180 msec. in the visual hemifield or haptically explored. The subjects were asked to depress one button for two stimuli and another button for the other two. Another group of 16 subjects was similarly given a discriminative task: same-different judgments were required on successive pairs of stimuli (central stimulus first and then lateral stimulus). The results agreed well with the hypothesis as regards the visual modality. The lack of laterality effects in the tactile tests could be due to procedural defects. It also appeared that the degree of familiarization with stimuli was an important variable, at least in the visual modality.