Handedness and false memory: Influence of semantic activation and interhemispheric processing

This dissertation examined the relationship between handedness and semantic activation and interhemispheric processing by using fluency measures and a false memory task. Handedness, which serves as a proxy for hemispheric processing, was predicted to influence the typicality of items generated within a category in a category fluency task and the number of items generated during a verbal (letter) fluency task (Study 1). Handedness was also predicted to influence the processing by which an individual judges whether an item was previously presented in a false memory task (Study 2). Handedness was shown to correlate with the typicality of items generated during a category fluency task and the number of items generated during a verbal fluency task. Individuals closer to left-handedness generated items with lower typicality to the category (category fluency) and generated more total items (verbal fluency). Handedness was also shown to correlate with the processing associated with recognition decisions during a false memory task. Individuals closer to left-handedness had a higher contribution of phantom recollection to critical lures from weak associative word lists. The relationship between handedness (as a proxy for hemispheric processing) and recognition performance may be influenced by the left hemisphere's specific, focal type of processing and the right hemisphere's global, widespread type of processing.