Reading direction interacts with spatial processes of temporal order verbal working memory: evidence from Iranian right-to-left readers

ABSTRACT

Reading direction affects cognitive processes such as spatial processing and attention. Testing Farsi right-to-left readers, we investigated the effect of reading direction on the involved spatial and attentional processes in a verbal working memory task. Previous research in left-to-right readers has shown that serial order in verbal WM is encoded spatially from left to right and that mechanisms of spatial attention operate on these mental representations. First, we confirmed that the spatial representation of serial information in WM follows the right-to-left reading direction of Farsi. Second, we demonstrated the influence of reading direction on the distribution of spatial attention over the reading-direction-contingent mental representation of serial information in WM. Behavioural RTs and neural markers of spatial attention shifts (EDAN and ADAN ERPs and lateralised posterior alpha activity) confirm the right-to-left representation of serial order in WM and the involvement of spatial attention in retrieving items from this mnemonic space.

KEYWORDS:

• Serial order
• verbal working memory
• space
• spatial attention
• reading habits

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by EOS research project 30446199 from FWO and FNRS and by GOA project BOF17-GOA-004 from Ghent University awarded to Wim Fias.