THE NEGLECTED PAGE

Normal subjects bisect vertical lines above the true midpoint. We posi ted that the portion of the page farthest from the line or the page's geometric center, though not the focus of attention, would still engag e attention. Therefore, subjects should make bisection errors in the d irection of the distant portion or geometric center. We expected the g reatest superior bisection errors to be made when lines were placed at the bottom of the page and the smallest errors to be made when the li nes were placed at the top of the page. Ten young, normal subjects bis ected vertical lines placed in 1 of 3 positions on a page (top, center , bottom) with the page located in 1 of 3 spatial locations (superior, middle, inferior). The results of our study were consistent with our predictions. Thus, although the page on which a line is bisected is of ten ignored, it is not neglected.