Abstract:
The subject of this thesis is laterality differences in perception. The term "laterality difference" refers to an asymmetry in report accuracy for stimuli presented about the center of a person's visual field. A discussion of the literature and experimental findings relevant to this topic is first given. This is followed by a detailed analysis of eight experiments which examine the effects of a number of variables on laterality differences. The main conclusion drawn from these experiments is that perceptual laterality differences are a function of acquired. Reading habits, the structural characteristics of the stimuli, and the order in which the stimuli are reported. To a lesser extent, they are also related to certain other factors such as differential eye sensitivity and handedness. An interpretation in terms of a "post-exposure trace-scanning" hypothesis is given to account for the experimental findings.