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Right-left prevalence with task-irrelevant spatial codes

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Abstract

The present work investigated the right-left prevalence effect caused by the automatic activation of horizontal and vertical spatial codes in a task (Simon task) in which spatial information is task-irrelevant. Experiment 1 showed a horizontal Simon effect and a vertical Simon effect with a two-dimensional stimulus-response set. In Experiments 2 and 3, the right-left prevalence was obtained in two-dimensional Simon tasks with two contralateral effectors and four effectors respectively. Experiment 4 showed that horizontal coding is based on multiple spatial codes, whereas only one spatial code was formed for vertical coding. On the whole, these results support the notion that the right-left prevalence effect is a general phenomenon affecting spatial coding, and suggest that the horizontal dimension is prevalent because it is based on multiple spatial codes.

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Notes

  1. Hereafter, we will also use the terms compatible and incompatible trials for the Simon task.

  2. When the present paper was about to be submitted, the paper by Proctor et al. (2003) came to our attention as soon as it was submitted. In it the authors investigated right-left prevalence by the use of the two-dimensional Simon task. Simon effects were evident for both the horizontal and vertical dimensions, and they were of similar magnitude. When salience of one dimension was manipulated, the Simon effect was greater for the more salient dimension. These results of course were in accordance with the relative salience explanation of the right-left prevalence effect and allow this explanation to be extended to conditions in which the spatial codes are formed automatically.

  3. Part of the data of the present work were collected when Sandro Rubichi was at the University of Urbino.

  4. If we consider that using contralateral hand and foot responses is a way of enhancing the environmental salience of the horizontal dimension, a test of the right-left prevalence in Simon tasks would be provided by an experiment along the lines of Vu and Proctor’s (2001) Experiment 2 with stimulus location as the irrelevant stimulus dimension. This test has been conducted by Proctor et al. (2003). More precisely, the authors evaluated HE and VE with contralateral and ipsilateral hand-foot responses when the display salience was biased towards the horizontal or the vertical dimensions. Results showed that when both the display and the response salience favored one spatial dimension, the Simon effect was larger for that dimension. However, when the display and response salience did not match, the overall Simon effect favored the horizontal dimension. This asymmetry reflects the fact that display and response salience only influenced the Simon effect for the vertical dimension, whereas the horizontal Simon effect was not. Of course, this pattern of result can be interpreted as indicating right-left prevalence effect that is partially independent of environmental salience.

  5. When the present paper was about to be submitted, the paper by Proctor et al. (2003) came to our attention as soon as it was submitted. In it the authors investigated right-left prevalence by the use of the two-dimensional Simon task. Simon effects were evident for both the horizontal and vertical dimensions, and they were of similar magnitude. When salience of one dimension was manipulated, the Simon effect was greater for the more salient dimension. These results of course were in accordance with the relative salience explanation of the right-left prevalence effect and allow this explanation to be extended to conditions in which the spatial codes are formed automatically.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by grants from MIUR. We would like to thank Martin Eimer, Bernhard Hommel, and an anonymous reviewer for their very helpful comments on an earlier draft of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali, Cognitive e Quantitative, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Giglioli Valle 9, 42100, Reggio Emilia, Italy

    Sandro Rubichi

  2. Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Roberto Nicoletti

  3. Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Carlo Umiltà

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  1. Sandro Rubichi
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  2. Roberto Nicoletti
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  3. Carlo Umiltà
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Correspondence to Sandro Rubichi.

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Rubichi, S., Nicoletti, R. & Umiltà, C. Right-left prevalence with task-irrelevant spatial codes. Psychological Research 69, 167–178 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-003-0168-z

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