Part 1: Spatial frames of reference and hemispheric dominance

In this section we report a study that explores the linkage between language, spatial frames of reference (FoR) and hemispheric dominance. We also explore the relationship of these measures with psychological differentiation.

A striking feature of research on spatial cognition is the diversity of tasks and mental processes subsumed under this term (Linn & Peterson, 1985). The involvement of different brain structures makes it even more complex (Kemmerer, 2006). Many researchers attempt to define spatial cognition in terms of the tasks that are processed predominantly by the right hemisphere. Witelson and Swallow (1988) have presented an overview of the tasks that clearly involve a strong spatial component and are processed by the right hemisphere of the brain. However, they also mention other spatial tasks that are found to be more dependent on the left hemisphere. This makes prediction of spatial cognition difficult in terms of hemispheric lateralization theory.

Studies using neuroimaging techniques show that both hemispheres of the brain are active in almost all tasks (e.g. Grimshaw, 1998; Sergent, Ohta, & MacDonald, 1992; Zaehle, Jordan, Wustenberg, Baudewig, & Dechent, 2007), but there is some sort of compromise with regard to the division of labor between them so that they function in a highly coordinated manner. This is partly accomplished by dividing stimulus inputs. The right hemisphere deals mainly with information available in the left visual field, and the left hemisphere deals mainly with information available in the right visual field.