Lateralised covert attention in word identification.

The right visual field superiority in word recognition has been attributed to an attentional advantage by the left brain hemisphere. We investigated whether such advantage involves lateralised covert attention, in the absence of overt fixations on prime words. In a lexical decision task target words were preceded by an identical or an unrelated prime word. Eye movements were monitored. In Experiment 1 lateralised (to the left or right of fixation) prime words were parafoveally visible but foveally masked, thus allowing for covert attention but preventing overt attention. In Experiment 2 prime words were presented at fixation, thus allowing for both overt and covert attention. Results revealed positive priming in the absence of fixations on the primes when these were presented in the right visual field. The effects of covertly attended primes were nevertheless significantly reduced in comparison with those of overtly attended primes. It is concluded that word identification can be accomplished to a significant extent by lateralised covert attention alone, with right visual field advantage.