Response bias and hemispheric differences in dot localization

Abstract

A series of studies investigated the accuracy of dot localization in left and right visual fields. The left visual field superiority previously reported for this task was found to be small and statistically inconsistent. It was unaffected by the presence of a frame of reference, the location of the response card, or the sex of the subject. It was observed, however, that the majority of subjects showed a response bias favoring the report of items in the left visual field. This suggests that the right hemisphere is less critical than the left in its assessment of incoming information, and may provide a basis for understanding previous reports of right hemispheric superiority on dot localization. It is concluded that dot localization does not provide a reliable measure of right hemisphere performance. © 1976 Psychonomic Society, Inc.