Abstract
The processing of sine-wave gratings presented to the left and right visual fields was examined in four experiments. Subjects were required either to detect the presence of a grating (Experiments 1 and 2) or to identify the spatial frequency of a grating (Experiments 3 and 4). Orthogonally to this, the stimuli were presented either at threshold levels of contrast (Experiments 1 and 3) or at suprathreshold levels (Experiments 2 and 4). Visual field and spatial frequency interacted when the task required identification of spatial frequency, but not when it required only stimulus detection. Regardless of contrast level (threshold, suprathreshold), high-frequency gratings were identified more readily in the right visual field (left hemisphere), whereas low-frequency gratings showed no visual field difference (Experiment 3) or were identified more readily in the left visual field (right hemisphere) (Experiment 4). Thus, hemispheric asymmetries in the processing of spatial frequencies depend on the task. These results support Sergent’s (1982) spatial frequency hypothesis, but only when the computational demands of the task exceed those required for the simple detection of the stimuli.
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This research was supported by an Academic Challenge Grant from the State of Ohio to enhance research in experimental psychology, which provided a postdoctoral fellowship to S. Christrnan and a visiting professorship to J. B. Hellige, and a State of Ohio Department of Aging award to F.L.K. In addition, the participation of J. B. Hellige was supported by National Science Foundation Grant BNS 89-08305.
An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/BF03211607.
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Kitterle, F.L., Christman, S. & Hellige, J.B. Hemispheric differences are found in the identification, but not the detection, of low versus high spatial frequencies. Perception & Psychophysics 48, 297–306 (1990). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206680
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206680