Hemispheric differences in object identification

Although the right hemisphere is thought to be preferentially involved in v isuospatial processing, the specialization of the two hemispheres with resp ect to object identification is unclear. The present study investigated the effects of hemifield presentation on object and word identification by pre senting objects (Experiment 1) and words (Experiment 2) in a rapid visual s tream of distracters. In Experiment 1, object images presented in the left visual field (i.e., to the right hemisphere) were identified with shorter d isplay times. In addition, the left visual field advantage was greater for inverted objects. In Experiment 2, words presented in the right visual held (i.e., to the left hemisphere) under similar conditions were identified wi th shorter display times. These results support the idea that the right hem isphere is specialized with regard to object identification. (C) 2001 Acade mic Press.