Unconscious Processing In Spatial Relations Judgments

Many psychological activities include unconscious processing. Studies on unconsciousness and its potential brain mechanisms are set on from relative research of neuropsychology, cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Data indicate that right hemisphere(RH) is more active by unconscious processing between two hemispheres of brain. Visuospatial tasks have functional dissociations between left hemisphere(LH) and right hemisphere, also between two neuropathways. The RH computes spatial and visuoauto information, while the LH performs tasks that require subjects to recall 2-D configuration of objects, a more semantic process. The appropriate division of processing between two visuoneuropathways is a division in identification and localization. Kosslyn(1987) theorized that the visual system uses two types of spatial relations. Categorical spatial relations represent a range of locations as an equivalence class, whereas coordinate/metric spatial relations represent the precise distance between two objects. Empirical evidence supports the notion that the LH is at an advantage for making judgments requiring categorical spatial relations, while the RH is at an advantage for making judgments requiring coordinate spatial relations. The Kosslynxs computational theory and the theory on the brain mechanisms of the unconscious processing of visual perception are two basis for this article.The aim of this study is to examine the differences of the unconscious processing between two hemispheres. Categorical spatial relations and coordinate spatial relations judgments were adopted as different tasks for the different hemisphere. Depending on behavioral reaction of RT and corrections, the unconscious processing differences and processing characteristics between two hemispheres were revealed, which embodied the connection among function, processing and brain mechanism.Three experiments were designed. Experiment 1 was imposing judgments of subliminal stimuli of categorical spatial relations and coordinate spatial relations. Experiment 2 was priming effects of categorical spatial relations and coordinate spatial relations for each other. Experiment 3 was influence of interference stimuli on categorical spatial relations and coordinate spatial relations judgments. Each of the experimental design consisted of a 2 X 2 within-subject design. Stimulus presentations were controlled by Javascipt language on computers. Subjects could control the procedure by themselves and make all responses on a computer keyboard. Forty-fiveundergraduates introductory psychology students participated voluntarily, fifteen (three males and twelve females), thirteen(two males and eleven females) and seventeen(four males and thirteen females) students for three experiments respectively. All were strongly right-handed with no left-handed relatives in their families.The results showed that : (1)when stimuli were presented on subliminal time, categorical spatial relations and coordinate spatial relations judgments had no differences on RT. But the coordinate task had more corrections than categorical task, which demonstrated that the RH has advantage in guessing judgments requiring active arousing state at some extent. (2)There was the absence of priming effects under the categorical task with a coordinate prime, and there was the presence of priming effects under the coordinate task with a categorical prime. The categorical information benefits the processing of a coordinate relation while the reverse is not true. A possible connection and interaction between categorical and coordinate spatial relations exists. Specifically, categorical spatial relations do not depend on coordinate but coordinate spatial relations may rely on categorical information as an initial stage of processing. Coordinate spatial relations can be decomposed into a number of stages. (3) The interference stimuli could disrupt the performance of the categorical processing but had no or less influence on the coordinate task. The latter concentrated on the judgments themselves...