Evidence for a priming-based asymmetry in color identification.

Performance asymmetries in colour discrimination (or detection) between visual fields (VFs) are typically examined using mean or median reaction times and have tended to yield either a left VF advantage for all colours (i.e., lower reaction times) or no difference for any colour, although a right VF advantage has also been reported. We used a novel colour identification task in which participants simply identified the colour of a laterally presented rectangle (i.e., red or blue). A measure of priming effects - but not mean or median reaction times - revealed a VF × colour interaction across a pilot study and two experiments; priming for red versus blue stimuli was greater in the left VF and priming for blue stimuli was greater in the right versus left VF. Two plausible psychological explanations of this interaction are offered, including the potential generation of approach and avoidance motivations and different emotional responses to blue versus red stimuli. Future work will be needed, but the current findings indicate that the left and right hemispheres are differentially primed by different colours - the right hemisphere is primed to a greater extent by red stimuli, and the left hemisphere is primed more by blue stimuli.

Lateralized goal framing: How health messages are influenced by valence and contextual/analytic processing.

The effectiveness of health messages has been shown to vary due to the positive or negative framing of information, often known as goal framing. In two experiments we altered, the strength of the goal framing manipulation by selectively activating the processing style of the left or right hemisphere (RH). In Experiment 1, we found support for the contextual/analytic perspective; a significant goal framing effect was observed when the contextual processing style of the RH - but not the analytic processing style of the left hemisphere (LH) - was initially activated. In Experiment 2, support for the valence hypothesis was found when a message that had a higher level of personal involvement was used than that in Experiment 1. When the LH was initially activated, there was an advantage for the gain- vs. loss-framed message; however, an opposite pattern - an advantage for the loss-framed message - was obtained when the RH was activated. These are the first framing results that support the valence hypothesis. We discuss the theoretical and applied implications of these experiments.

Monetary and affective judgments of consumer goods: modes of evaluation matter.

Participants who evaluated 2 positively valued items separately reported more positive attraction (using affective and monetary measures) than those who evaluated the same two items as a unit. In Experiments 1-3, this separate/unitary evaluation effect was obtained when participants evaluated products that they were purchasing for a friend. Similar findings were obtained in Experiments 4 and 5 when we considered the amount participants were willing to spend to purchase insurance for items that they currently owned. The averaging/summation model was contrasted with several theoretical perspectives and implicated averaging and summation integration processes in how items are evaluated. The procedural and theoretical similarities and differences between this work and related research on unpacking, comparison processes, public goods, and price bundling are discussed. Overall, the results support the operation of integration processes and contribute to an understanding of how these processes influence the evaluation and valuation of private goods.

A new method for selectively enhancing hemisphere processing: voice frequency amplification influences the strength of attribute framing.

An attribute framing effect occurs when positive or negative associations produced by positive or negative frames are mapped onto evaluations resulting in a more favourable evaluation for the positively framed attribute. We used a new voice frequency manipulation to differentially enhance right versus left hemisphere processing. In doing so we found a strong attribute framing effect when a speaker with a low-frequency voice enhanced the contextual processing style of the right hemisphere. However, a framing effect was not obtained when a speaker with a high-frequency voice enhanced the inferential/analytical processing style of the left hemisphere. At the theoretical level our results provide evidence that the contextual processing style of the right hemisphere is especially susceptible to associative implications, such as those found in attribute framing manipulations. At the applied level we provide a simple method for altering the effectiveness of persuasion messages.

An investigation of measurement validity for a hemispheric activation scale.

In this paper we report the outcomes of two attempts to correlate the Zenhausern Preference Questionnaire (PT) with the Polarity Questionnaire (PQ). Across two laboratories we consistently found no correlation between these two scales. Our findings are consistent with a previous attempt to validate the PQ (Genovese, 2005). We conclude that researchers attempting to use the PQ should take note of this validity question.

Prefactual potency: the perceived likelihood of alternatives to anticipated realities.

Prefactual thoughts typically take the form of implied or explicit if-then statements that represent mental simulations of alternatives to what is expected to occur in the future. The authors propose that the multiplicative combination of "if likelihood" (the degree to which the antecedent condition of the prefactual is perceived to be likely) and "then likelihood" (the perceived conditional likelihood of the outcome of the prefactual, given the antecedent condition) determine the influence of prefactuals. This construct, termed prefactual potency, is a reliable predictor of the degree of influence of prefactual thinking on judgments of anticipated negative affect. Through three experiments, the authors demonstrate the predictive power of this construct and show that it plays a causal role in determining the strength of the effects of prefactual thought. Implications of prefactual potency as a central factor of prefactual influence are discussed.

Lateralized goal framing: how selective presentation impacts message effectiveness.

We tested whether framing a message as a gain or loss would alter its effectiveness by using a dichotic listening procedure to selectively present a health related message to the left or right hemisphere. A significant goal framing effect (losses > gains) was found when right, but not left, hemisphere processing was initially enhanced. The results support the position that the contextual processing style of the right hemisphere is especially sensitive to the associative implications of the frame. We discussed the implications of these findings for goal framing research, and the valence hypothesis. We also discussed how these findings converge with prior valence framing research and how they can be of potential use to health care providers.

On the other hand am I rational? Hemispheric activation and the framing effect.

In recent decades the investigation of framing effects has become the foremost studied phenomenon of rational/irrational decision making. Two experiments were conducted to determine whether the functional specializations of the left and the right hemispheres would produce different responses to a traditional framing task. In Experiment 1, a behavioral task of finger tapping was used to induce asymmetrical activation of the respective hemispheres. In Experiment 2, a monaural listening procedure was used. In both experiments, the predicted results were found. Framing effects were found when the right hemisphere was selectively activated whereas they were not observed when the left hemisphere was selectively activated. The results are interpreted in light of a dual-processing approach of decision-making.

Attributional biases in the service of stereotype maintenance: a schema-maintenance through compensation analysis.

Six experiments were conducted to test assumptions of a schema-maintenance through compensation analysis. The results of these experiments indicated that perceivers can compensate for the inconsistent action of one individual (the target) by altering their attribution concerning the action of a fellow group member. When the target performed an inconsistent behavior, perceivers compensated by making especially extreme stereotypically consistent attributions concerning a fellow group member's subsequent action. In addition, in Experiment 5, perceivers compensated via a fellow group member for a target's inconsistent action while maintaining their general view of group members. Experiments also provided tests of the capability and motivation assumptions of the schema-maintenance through compensation analyses.