| Research on the two hemispheres of the human brain has lead to many theories of laterality. In this article we examine a proposed theory of laterality, the Janus theory of laterality (Dien & Waterson, submitted) and explore whether support for this theory can be found in event related potentials (ERPs) obtained in a sentence reading N400 paradigm. A task manipulation was used to see whether a global change in processing strategy caused the observed ERPs to shift in the manner predicted by the Janus theory of laterality. Significant differences in the ERP componentry were observed. Some of these differences were consistent with those predicted by the Janus theory, however; due to temporal and spatial overlap of some of the ERP components, the interpretation of these differences is not clear. Modifications to Janus theory of laterality are suggested, and future directions of research on this theory are also discussed. |
