Hemispheric dissociation in judging semantic relations: complementarity for close and distant associates.

ABSTRACT

In two lateralized tachistoscopic experiments, we presented (i) pairs of nouns with close or distant semantic associations or (ii) pairs of nouns which were randomly matched and later rated by the subjects as to their semantic distance. In both experiments, words presented to the right visual field were more frequently judged as semantically close in meaning than words presented to the left visual field (LVF), whereas words presented to the LVF were more frequently judged as semantically distant. The results are discussed in relation to hemispheric language functions and current models of cerebral laterality.