Motor imagery theory of a contralateral handedness effect in recognition memory: Toward a chiral psychology of cognition

The assumption that cognitive processes are independent of handedness was q uestioned. Five experiments with left-handed and right-handed participants centered on investigating recognition memory for the orientation of heads. Their results provided consistent evidence of a general contralateral hande dness effect: Left-facing heads are more likely to be remembered correctly by right-handed participants, whereas right-facing heads are more likely to be remembered correctly by left-handed participants. Motor imagery and hem ispheric differences explanations were compared. The results supported the hypothesis that the effect is a consequence of differences between handedne ss groups in terms of specific patterns of underlying motor activation rath er than in terms of more general differences in function between cerebral h emispheres. The possibility of a chiral psychology of cognition that takes note of a person's handedness is considered.