Abstract
In two experiments subjects decided whether a sentence correctly described the locations of two states of the United States or correctly described the locations of two symbols presented above it. Sentences involved either spatial relations (right, left, above, and below) or compass relations (east, west, north, and south). For vertically aligned symbols, both “above” and “north” were responded to faster than “below” and “south.” For vertically aligned states, however, this effect was present only for true statements. For horizontally aligned stimuli, “right” and “east” were faster than “left” and “west” with the perceptually available symbols but not with memorized states. These findings were discussed in terms of the Clark and Chase (1972) model of picture-sentence verification processes.
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References
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Maki, R.H., Maki, W.S. & Marsh, L.G. Generalization of above/below, right/left effects to compass directions and natural stimuli. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 10, 307–310 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329344
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329344