Asymmetry In Lateral Directionality

Abstract

Effects of laterality and reading habits on directional preferences were investigated in two experiments. The subjects (N = 40 and 33 in Experiments I and II respectively) were right- and left-handed, male and female Israelis, whose native tongue was Hebrew. They identified and reproduced horizontal arrays of visual stimuli, which were presented either simultaneously (Experiment I), or sequentially (Experiment II). Directional preferences of the subjects' responses were recorded and analyzed. In Experiment I subjects of all groups showed similar, left-right directional preferences. In Experiment II right handers showed right-left preferences, whereas left handers showed inconsistent response patterns. Sex differences appeared among left handers only. The results were interpreted as showing the predominance of reading habit effects in Experiment I, and of laterality effects in Experiment II. It was therefore concluded that, depending on the experimental conditions, directional preferences may be a function of either reading habits, or laterality, or both.