Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)
Document Type
Poster
Publication Date
4-30-2026
Disciplines
Psychology
Advisor
Dr. Blaine Tomkins
Abstract
This study investigates the role of each cerebral hemisphere in processing word forms to better understand how the brain decodes letter strings. Participants completed a same-different judgment task for four-character word and symbol (Orkhon) pairs presented unilaterally. On different trials, a single character was substituted at the first, second, third, or fourth position in the string. Results showed a sameness advantage in the left hemisphere (LH) and a difference advantage in the right hemisphere (RH) - effects only observed with word stimuli. Performance was best when the substituted character occurred at the beginning or end of words and symbols, rather than in the middle, consistent with patterns observed in the word superiority effect. These findings suggest that both hemispheres are capable of parallel processing of word forms. They also indicate the LH advantage for visual word form processing relative to the RH is restricted to familiar characters. Lastly, the findings indicate that the privileged processing of the first and last character in a string is not exclusive to words, suggesting serial position effects may simply be due to greater lateral interference for letters embedded in the middle of words.
Recommended Citation
Curlo, Karoline, "Hemispheric Processing of Words and Unfamiliar Symbol Strings" (2026). Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-). 348.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/ur_cscday/348