Abstract
This experiment was designed to determine whether there were hemispheric and/or hemiretinal (nasal/temporal) differences in contrast sensitivity and the oblique effect. Contrast sensitivity functions were measured in the left and right eyes for vertically (90°) and obliquely (45°) oriented sinusoidal gratings presented in the right and left visual fields. There were no hemispheric differences in contrast sensitivity for vertically or obliquely oriented gratings. However, sensitivity was lower for obliquely oriented gratings. Thus, the cerebral hemispheres do not appear to differ in sensitivity to contrast or in the magnitude of the oblique effect. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the role of spatial frequency channels in information processing asymmetries between the left and right cerebral hemispheres.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Appelle, S. (1972). Perception and discrimination as a function of stimulus orientation: The “oblique effect” in man and animals.Psychological Bulletin,78, 266–278.
Andrews, D. P. (1967). Perception of contour orientation in the central fovea. I. Short lines.Vision Research,7, 975–977.
Atkinson, J., &Egeth, H. (1972). Right hemisphere superiority in visual orientation.Canadian Journal of Psychology,27, 152–158.
Beaton, A., &Blakemore, C. (1981). Orientation selectivity of the human visual system as a function of retinal eccentricity and visual hemifield.Perception,10, 273–282.
Berkley, M. A., Khterle, F. L., &Watkins, D. W. (1975). Grating visibility as a function of orientation and retinal eccentricity.Vision Research,15, 239–244.
Blake, R., &Mills, J. (1979). Pattern and flicker detection examined in terms of the nasal-temporal division of the retina.Perception,8, 549–555.
Campbell, F. W., &Robson, J. G. (1968). Application of Fourier analysis to the visibility of gratings.Journal of Physiology,197, 551–566.
Davson, H. (1972).The physiology of the eye (pp. 481–482). New York: Academic Press.
Dilollo, V. (1981). Hemispheric symmetry in the duration of visible persistence.Perception & Psychophysics,29, 21–25.
Egeth, H., &Epstein, J. (1972). Differential specialization of the cerebral hemispheres for the perception of sameness and difference.Perception & Psychophysics,12, 218–220.
Fairweather, H., Brizzolara, D., Tabossi, P., &Umiltá, C. (1982). Functional cerebral lateralization: Dichotomy or plurality?Cortex,18, 51–66.
Fontenot, D. J., &Benton, A. L. (1972). Perception of direction in the right and left visual fields.Neuropsychologia,10, 447–452.
Geffen, G., Bradshaw, J. L., &Nettleton, N. (1972). Hemispheric asymmetry: Verbal and spatial encoding of visual stimuli. In N. Coltheart (Ed.),Readings in cognitive psychology. Toronto: Holt.
Gilbert, C, &Bakan, P. (1973). Visual asymmetry in perception of faces.Neuropsychologia,11, 355–362.
Harmon, L. D. (1973). The recognition of faces.Scientific American,227, 71–82.
Jones, B. (1980). Sex and handedness as factors in visual-field organization for a categorization task.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Performance and Perception,6, 494–500.
Kimura, D. (1969). Spatial localization in left and right visual fields.Canadian Journal of Psychology,23, 445–459.
Longdon, K., Elus, C, &Iverson, S. D. (1976). Hemispheric differences in the discrimination of curvature.Neuropsychologia,14 195–202.
Mandelbaum, J., &Sloan, L. L. (1947). Peripheral visual acuity.American Journal of Ophthalmology,30, 581–588.
Markowitz, H., &Weitzman, D. O. (1969). Monocular recognition of letters and Landolt C’s in left and right visual hemifields.Journal of Experimental Psychology,79, 187–189.
Marzi, C, &Berlucchi, G. (1977). Right visual field superiority for accuracy of recognition of famous faces in normals.Neuropsychologia,15, 751–756.
Mckinney, J P. (1967). Handedness, eyedness and perceptual stability of the left and right visual fields.Neuropsychologia,5, 339–344.
Mishkin, M., &Forgays, D. G. (1952). Word recognition as a function of retinal locus.Journal of Experimental Psychology,43, 43–48.
Mitcheli, D. E., &Wilkinson, F. (1974). The effect of early astigmatism on the visual resolution of gratings.Journal of Physiology,243, 739–756.
Moscovitch, M. (1979). Information processing in the cerebral hemispheres. In M. S. Gazzaniga (Ed.),Handbook of behavioral neurobiology Vol. 2, Neuropsychology. New York; Plenum.
Moscovitch, M., &Klein, D. (1980). Perceptual interference for visual words and faces: Implications for models of capacity limitations, attention, and laterality.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Performance and Perception,6, 401–416.
Oldfield, R. C. (1971). The assessment and analysis of handedness: The Edinburgh Inventory.Neuropsychologia,9, 97–113
Overton, W., &Wiener, M. (1966). Visual field position and word recognition threshold.Journal of Experimental Psychology,71, 249–253.
Patterson, K., &Bradshaw, J. L. (1975). Differential hemispheric mediation of nonverbal visual stimuli.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance,1, 246–252.
Posner, M. I., &Mitchell, R. F (1967). Chronometrie analysis of classification.Psychological Review,74, 392–409.
Rao, S. M., Rourke, D., &Whitman, R. D. (1981). Spatio-temporal discrimination of frequency in the right and left visual fields: A preliminary report.Perceptual and Motor Skills,53, 311–316.
Rijsdijk, J P., Kroon, J. N., &Van Der Wildt, G. J. (1980). Contrast sensitivity as a function of position on the retina.Vision Research,20, 235–241.
Rose, D. (1983). An investigation into hemisphere differences in adaptation to contrast.Perception & Psychophysics,34, 89–95.
Rovamo, J., &Virsu, V. (1979). An estimation and application of the human cortical magnification factor.Experimental Brain Research,37, 495–510
Sergent, J. (1982A). The cerebral balance of power: Confrontation or cooperation?Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human performance and perception,8, 253–272.
Sergent, J. (1982B). Influence of luminance on hemispheric processing Bulletin of thePsychonomic Society,20, 221–223.
Sergent, J. (1982c). Theoretical and methodological consequences of variations in exposure duration in visual laterality studies.Perception & Psychophysics,31, 451–461.
Sergent, J (1983a). The effects of sensory limitations on hemispheric processing.Canadian Journal of Psychology,37, 345–366.
Sergent, J (1983b). Role of the input in visual hemispheric asymmetries.Psychological Bulletin,93, 481–512
Tei, B. E., &Owen, D. H. (1980). Laterality differences in sensitivity to line orientation as a function of adaptation duration.Perception & Psychophysics,28, 479–483.
Teiger, T., &Ganz, L. (1979). Recognition of faces in the presence of two-dimensional sinusoidal masks.Perception & Psychophysics,26, 163–167.
Umiltá, C, Rizzolattei, G., Marzi, C. A., Zamboni, G., Franzini, C, Camarda, R., &Berlucchi, A. (1974). Hemispheric differences in the discrimination of line orientation.Neuropsychologia,12, 165–174.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kitterle, F.L., Kaye, R.S. Hemispheric symmetry in contrast and orientation sensitivity. Perception & Psychophysics 37, 391–396 (1985). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202869
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03202869