title: Hand posture effects on handedness recognition as revealed by the simon effect.
abstract: We investigated the influence of hand posture in handedness recognition, while varying the spatial correspondence between stimulus and response in a modified Simon task. Drawings of the left and right hands were displayed either in a back or palm view while participants discriminated stimulus handedness by pressing either a left or right key with their hands resting either in a prone or supine posture. As a control, subjects performed a regular Simon task using simple geometric shapes as stimuli. Results showed that when hands were in a prone posture, the spatially corresponding trials (i.e., stimulus and response located on the same side) were faster than the non-corresponding trials (i.e., stimulus and response on opposite sides). In contrast, for the supine posture, there was no difference between corresponding and non-corresponding trials. Control experiments with the regular Simon task showed that the posture of the responding hand had no influence on performance. When the stimulus is the drawing of a hand, however, the posture of the responding hand affects the spatial correspondence effect because response location is coded based on multiple reference points, including the body of the hand.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal Fluminense Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Allan P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lameira
authors.forename: Luiz G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Gawryszewski
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guimarães-Silva
authors.forename: Fernanda M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Cláudia D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Umiltà
authors.forename: Antônio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pereira