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Memory for frequently encountered road signs was investigated. In Experiment 1, the average level of recall of road sign features was found to be only 47%. In Experiment 2, more left-handed than right-handed people recalled that a walking figure faces right on one sign, whereas more right-handed than left-handed people recalled that a digging figure faces left on another sign. Performance thus reflected not a difference in level of mnemonic ability between left-handed and right-handed groups but instead the compatibility between group and task. In Experiment 3, participants were asked to draw any figure walking and any figure digging, with a pattern of results similar to that of Experiment 2. It is suggested that handedness effects in recall are mediated by motor imagery.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Mem Cognit

Publication Date

03/1998

Volume

26

Pages

193 - 200

Keywords

Adolescent, Adult, Automobile Driving, Female, Functional Laterality, Generalization (Psychology), Humans, Imagination, Male, Mental Recall, Orientation, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Psychomotor Performance