LATERALIZATION OF THE NEGATIVE PRIMING EFFECT - RELATIONSHIPS WITH SCHIZOTYPY AND WITH GENDER

An investigation is reported of a divided visual field version of a negative priming task of selective attention, performance on which has previously been shown to be related to schizotypal personality traits. In lateralized form the task produced a significant interaction between schizotypy and visual field, and an influence of gender. Among males high schizotypes showed an absence of negative priming after primes presented to the left visual field. However, right field primes produced slightly more negative priming than in low schizotypes, who showed strong negative priming effects under both conditions. Among females there was less negative priming overall, no difference between visual fields, and no association with schizotypy. The results are interpreted in the light of evidence from other hemisphere research about lateralization of language in schizotypy and schizophrenia.