Left-right confusion: Is it caused by verbal labelling difficulty?

Abstract

In this study, the effect of verbal labelling difficulty is explored as a possible cause of left-right confusion (LRC). It is expected that people with a high degree of LRC have trouble assigning the verbal labels of ‘left’ and ‘right’ to the referred spatial directions. Based on the Bergen left-right discrimination test, 53 participants with a low level of LRC and 24 participants with a high level of LRC were compared on a verbal labelling task. The first condition of this task required verbal labelling with the words ‘left’ and ‘right’ and the second condition required verbal labelling without these words. The hypothesis that participants with a lower degree of LRC show a larger difference between these two conditions, compared to participants with a higher degree of LRC, was not confirmed. A verbal labelling effect in LRC could not be demonstrated in this study. This suggests another cause for LRC. However, this result does not rule out verbal labelling as a cause for LRC completely, due to bias in the verbal labelling task. Further research with a larger sample size and adapted stimuli is indicated.