Abstract
Memory for location of a dot inside a circle was investigated with the circle in the center of a computer screen (Experiment 1) or with the circle presented in either the left or the right visual field (Experiment 2). In both experiments, as in Huttenlocher, Hedges, and Duncan’s (1991) study, the task was to relocate the dot by marking the remembered location. When errors in angular and radial estimates were considered separately, it was found that, in both experiments, the angular locations of estimates of the dots’ positions regressed toward different locations inside each quadrant of the circle; the radial locations of the estimates of dots’ positions tended to regress toward locations near the circumference. These variations in the direction of bias appeared to reflect a general shift of estimates toward the upper left arc of the circle. The second experiment replicated the preceding effects but also revealed that the regressions within quadrants of angular values were stronger after right visual field than after left visual field presentations. We interpret the dissociation between visual fields as evidence that memory for categorical spatial relations (Kosslyn, 1987) is more dependent on left-hemisphere than on right-hemisphere processing.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bowers, D., &Heilman, K. M. (1980). Pseudoneglect: Effects of hemispace on a tactile line bisection task.Neuropsychologia,18, 491–498.
Bradshaw, J. L., Nathan, G., Nettleton, N. C., Wilson, L., &Pierson, J. (1987). Why is there a left side underestimation in rod bisection?Neuropsychologia,25, 735–738.
Bryant, D. J., &Subbiah, I. (1994). Subjective landmarks in perception and memory for spatial location.Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology,48, 119–139.
Franklin, N., Henkel, L. A., &Zangas, T. (1995). Parsing surrounding space into regions.Memory & Cognition,23, 397–407.
Hellige, J. B. (1993).Hemispheric asymmetry: What’s right and what’s left. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hellige, J. B., &Michimata, C. (1989). Categorization versus distance: Hemispheric differences for processing spatial information.Memory & Cognition,17, 770–776.
Huttenlocher, J., Hedges, L. V., &Duncan, S. (1991). Categories and particulars: Prototype effects in estimating spatial location.Psychological Review,98, 352–376.
Jastrow, J. (1893). On the judgment of angles and positions of lines.American Journal of Psychology,5, 214–268.
Kosslyn, S. M. (1987). Seeing and imaging in the cerebral hemispheres: A computational approach.Psychological Review,94,2, 148–175.
Kosslyn, S. M. (1994).Image and brain: The resolution of the imagery debate. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Kosslyn, S. M., Koenig, O., Barrett, A., Cave, C. B., Tang, J., &Gabrieli, J. D. E. (1989). Evidence for two types of spatial representations: Hemispheric specialization for categorical and coordinate relations.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance,15, 743–750.
Laeng, B. (1994). Lateralization of categorical and coordinate spatial functions. A study of unilateral stroke patients.Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,6, 189–203.
Laeng, B., Buchtel, H. A., &Butter, C. M. (1996). Tactile rod bisection: Hemispheric activation and sex differences.Neuropsychologia,34, 1115–1121.
Laeng, B., &Peters, M. (1995). Cerebral lateralization for the processing of spatial coordinates and categories in left- and right-handers.Neuropsychologia,33, 421–439.
Manning, L., Halligan, P. W., &Marshall, J. C. (1990). Individual variation in line bisection: A study of normal subjects with application to the interpretation of visual neglect.Neuropsychologia,28, 647–655.
Milner, A. D., Brechmann, M., &Pagliarini, L. (1992). To halve and to halve not: An analysis of line bisection judgments in normal subjects.Neuropsychologia,36, 515–526.
Woodworth, R. S., &Schlosberg, H. (1954).Experimental psychology. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
—Accepted by previous editor, Geoffrey R. Loftus
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Laeng, B., Peters, M. & McCabe, B. Memory for locations within regions: Spatial biases and visual hemifield differences. Memory & Cognition 26, 97–107 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211373
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211373