Hemispheric processing and reading efficiency

This study using a primed lexical decision task in a visual half-field paradigm investigated the advantage of interhemispheric processing to enhance cognitive capacity associated with reading ability among college students. Sixty-five undergraduate students (23 males, 42 females, mean age = 20.6) served as one of the following: skilled readers for the short SOA, skilled readers for the long SOA, or unskilled readers for the long SOA. The results demonstrated that intrahemispheric processing was advantageous in a simple task and interhemispheric processing was advantageous in a complex task for skilled readers, but unskilled readers did not show the advantage of interhemispheric processing in the complex task. The lack of switching strategies suggests that their unskilled reading ability may stem from inefficient reading processing.

► We examine the advantage of interhemispheric processing in a complex task.
► The skilled readers switch hemispheric information processing from intrahemispheric to interhemispheric processing when a task becomes complex.
► The unskilled readers use intrahemispheric processing in both simple and complex tasks.
► The failure to switch hemispheric processing may lead to inefficient reading processing and may contribute to unskilled reading ability.