Directional Scanning and Cerebral Asymmetries in Processing Visual Stimuli

Abstract

A perceptual exploration task involving three horizontal linear arrays of stimuli was administered to 167 children ranging in age from 3 to 7 yr. It was found that the well organized, predominantly right-to-left responses of very young children were eventually replaced by left-to-right patterns. A tachistoscopic test showed that Ss who gave right-to-left responses to the linear arrays showed hemispheric asymmetry of perception. The results were interpreted as supporting the view that directional response tendencies are related to hemispheric asymmetry.