Form-specific visual priming for new associations in the right cerebral hemisphere

Chad J. Marsolek, Daniel L. Schacter, and Christopher D. Nicholas

In three experiments, we examine the internal processing mechanisms of relatively independent visual-form subsystems. Participants first view centrally-presented word pairs and then complete word stems presented beneath context words in the left or right visual field. Letter-case-specific priming in stem completion is found only when the context word is the same word that previously appeared above the primed completion word and the items are presented directly to the right cerebral hemisphere. This pattern of results is not found when participants deliberately recollect previously presented words when completing the stems. Results suggest that holistic processing, not parts-based processing as assumed in many contemporary theories of visual form recognition, is performed in a subsystem that distinguishes specific instances in the same abstract category of form and operates more effectively in the right hemisphere than in the left hemisphere.

Marsolek, C. J., Schacter, D. L., & Nicholas, C. D. (1996). Form-specific visual priming for new associations in the right cerebral hemisphere. Memory & Cognition , 24 , 539-556.