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Spatial distribution of attention and inter-hemispheric competition

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Abstract

Considerable evidence has demonstrated functional asymmetry in spatial attention between the left and right hemispheres. In the present study, we aimed to examine the theoretical models of spatial attention by considering distribution and inter-hemispheric competition in neurologically healthy participants. Participants searched for a green circle target among green diamond non-targets in the presence or absence of a red singleton. Assuming that the salient singleton would increase the activation of the corresponding hemisphere, we manipulated the sides of the singleton visual fields and target visual fields. When the salient singleton was presented to the right visual field, target detection was faster for left visual field targets than for right visual field targets. In contrast, when the salient singleton was presented to the left visual field, target detection time was equivalent for left and right visual field targets. These results suggest that when the perceptually salient singleton acts as an activator, distribution of attention differs depending on the activated hemisphere induced by inter-hemispheric competition. These findings are in line with Kinsbourne’s opponent processor theory.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant from the Research Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists to Kao Yamaoka.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kao Yamaoka & Chikashi Michimata

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  1. Kao Yamaoka
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  2. Chikashi Michimata
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Correspondence to Kao Yamaoka.

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Authors agree that all procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Handling Editor: Juan Lupianez, University of Granada.

Reviewers: Fabiano Botta, University of Granada; Gina Grimshaw, Victoria University of Wellington.

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Yamaoka, K., Michimata, C. Spatial distribution of attention and inter-hemispheric competition. Cogn Process 16, 417–425 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-015-0734-5

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