DUAL-TASK INTERFERENCE PATTERNS REVEAL DIFFERENTIAL PROCESSING OF UPRIGHT AND INVERTED FACES

The concurrent-task method was used to investigate the hemispheric loc us of face encoding. In each of three experiments, 48 right-handed adu lts performed unimanual finger tapping while encoding whole or partial faces for subsequent recognition. Faces were upright in Experiments 1 and 2 but inverted in Experiment 3. Irrespective of stimulus orientat ion, face encoding disrupted left- and right-hand tapping equally. Upr ight faces were less accurately recognized if learned during left-hand tapping than during right-hand tapping; inverted faces showed no late ralized interference. The results support tachistoscopic findings that indicate predominantly right-hemispheric processing of upright faces and bilateral processing of inverted faces. (C) 1995 Academic Press, I nc.