title: Comparative assessment of distance processing and hemispheric specialization in humans and baboons (Papio papio).
abstract: This comparative study explored the ability to process distance and its lateralization in humans and baboons. Using a conditional matching-to-sample procedure in a divided-field format, subjects had to decide whether or not the distance between a line and a dot belonged to a short- or a long-distance category. Experiments 1, 2, and 4 demonstrated the ability of baboons to process and categorize distances. Moreover, humans showed better distance processing for right visual field/left hemisphere presentations than for left visual field/right hemisphere (LVF-RH) displays (Experiments 1-2). The same bias was found in baboons (Experiment 1), but in a weaker way. In Experiment 3, naive human individuals were tested and the difficulty of the discrimination was enhanced. There was a LVF-RH advantage which vanished with practice. Results are discussed by referring to theories (i.e., Kosslyn, 1987) of visuospatial processing for coordinate and categorical judgments.
authors.affiliation: Center for Research in Cognitive Neurosciences, CNRS, Marseille, France. delph@lnf.cnrs-mrs.fr
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dépy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fagot
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vauclair
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004215:Distance Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010215:Papio; D011930:Reaction Time; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology