Comparative assessment of distance processing and hemispheric specialization in humans (homo sapiens) and baboons (papio papio).
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Abstract – This comparative study explored the ability to process distance and its lateralization in humans and baboons. Using a conditional matching-to-sample procedure in a divided-field format, subjects had to decide whether or not the distance between a line and a dot belonged to a short- or a long-distance category. Experiments 1, 2, and 4 demonstrated the ability of baboons to process and categorize distances. Moreover, humans showed better distance processing for right visual field/left hemisphere presentations than for left visual field/right hemisphere (LVF-RH) displays (Experiments 1–2). The same bias was found in baboons (Experiment 1), but in a weaker way. In Experiment 3, naive human individuals were tested and the difficulty of the discrimination was enhanced. There was a LVF-RH advantage which vanished with practice. Results are discussed by referring to theories (i.e., Kosslyn, 1987) of visuospatial processing for coordinate and categorical judgments.