Abstract
In two experiments Os reproduced eight-letter words or nonsense-words tachistoscopically exposed across fixation. For some words the meaningful sequence of letters, or the orientation of the letters, or both, were reversed with respect to the normal left-right arrangement in English. O always knew prior to exposure which stimulus-condition was to appear. Relative errors to the left or right of fixation varied depending upon both stimulus-condition and individual O. The sequence of letters exerted the greater effect. Results are interpreted as suggesting a temporal-spatial perceptual mechanism, analyzing the traces of the visual pattern from left to right, or from right to left, with the direction determined by the responsiveness of O to letter-orientation and letter-sequence. This interpretation is offered as an alternative to a simple notion of cerebral hemispheric dominance.