title: Does categorical perception in the left hemisphere depend on language?
abstract: Categorical perception (CP) refers to the influence of category knowledge on perception and is revealed by a superior ability to discriminate items across categories relative to items within a category. In recent years, the finding that CP is lateralized to the left hemisphere in adults has been interpreted as evidence for a kind of CP driven by language. The present research challenges this conclusion. In 2 experiments, we found that CP for novel object categories was stronger in the left hemisphere than in the right, consistent with a role for language. However, both labeled and unlabeled categories gave rise to such effects, and to comparable degrees. These results suggest that left-lateralized CP does not depend on language but rather may reflect the left hemisphere's more general propensity for categorical processing. Our findings raise implications for research on linguistic relativity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Emory University, 36 Eagle Row, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. kevin.holmes@emory.edu
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D003210:Concept Formation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology