Chen Haiwen, Cox Jolene A, Aimola Davies Anne M
School of Medicine and Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2024 Nov 11:17470218241280800. doi: 10.1177/17470218241280800.
Hemispheric asymmetry has been reported for global-local processing in young and older adults, with global processing specialised in the right hemisphere (RH-global specialisation) and local processing specialised in the left hemisphere (LH-local specialisation). Questions persist regarding the extent to which hemispheric asymmetry is influenced by stimulus category (verbal stimuli processed in the left hemisphere; visuospatial stimuli processed in the right hemisphere). Some evidence suggests stimulus category does not influence hemispheric asymmetry (stimulus-independent account) while other evidence suggests it does (stimulus-dependent account). In older adults, there is evidence of a local-processing advantage, believed to result from slower and less accurate performance in right-hemisphere compared to left-hemisphere functioning-the right-hemisphere ageing hypothesis. We examined hemispheric asymmetry for global-local processing in young and older participants with three hierarchical figures (letters, verbalisable objects, and nonverbalisable shapes), in a within-subjects design using a divided-attention paradigm and unilateral presentation. Our findings for letters and verbalisable objects support the stimulus-independent account-young and older participants demonstrated RH-global specialisation and LH-local specialisation regardless of stimulus category. In older participants, we also found a local-processing advantage for all three stimulus categories-an advantage best explained as faster and more accurate performance in local processing regardless of the visual field of stimulus presentation. Overall, we found hemispheric asymmetry for global-local processing in both young and older adults, and differences in global processing between young and older adults. Future investigation is suggested for the hemispheric asymmetry found in global-local processing of nonverbalisable shapes, and the mechanisms underlying age-related changes in global processing.
已有研究报道，在年轻人和老年人中，半球不对称性与整体-局部加工有关，其中整体加工在右半球专门化（右半球整体专门化），局部加工在左半球专门化（左半球局部专门化）。关于半球不对称性受刺激类别（言语刺激在左半球加工；视觉空间刺激在右半球加工）影响的程度，仍存在疑问。一些证据表明刺激类别不影响半球不对称性（与刺激无关的观点），而其他证据则表明它会影响（与刺激有关的观点）。在老年人中，有证据表明存在局部加工优势，这被认为是由于右半球功能与左半球功能相比表现更慢且更不准确所致——即右半球衰老假说。我们在一项采用分心范式和单侧呈现的被试内设计中，使用三个层次图形（字母、可言语化物体和不可言语化形状），对年轻和年长参与者的整体-局部加工的半球不对称性进行了研究。我们对字母和可言语化物体的研究结果支持与刺激无关的观点——无论刺激类别如何，年轻和年长参与者都表现出右半球整体专门化和左半球局部专门化。在年长参与者中，我们还发现所有三种刺激类别都存在局部加工优势——这种优势最好解释为无论刺激呈现的视野如何，局部加工的表现都更快且更准确。总体而言，我们发现年轻人和老年人在整体-局部加工方面都存在半球不对称性，且年轻人和老年人在整体加工方面存在差异。建议对不可言语化形状的整体-局部加工中发现的半球不对称性以及整体加工中与年龄相关变化的潜在机制进行进一步研究。
