Sighting dominance: An explanation based on the processing of visual direction in tests of sighting dominance

Abstract This study investigated the meaning of sighting dominance by examining its relationship to the processing of visual direction. In one experiment subjects' behavior in two sighting tests was evaluated. The data indicated that the reference point used in the tests is not the dominant eye but a central point consistent with the location of the visual egocenter. In a second experiment sighting dominance and the location of the egocenter were measured. The results indicated that the sighting eye is the eye nearest to the egocenter. Further analysis confirmed that sighting tests involve the processing of visual direction specified from the egocenter. The findings suggest that one eye is used in sighting tests because the tests force monocular viewing. The meaning of sighting dominance within the context of sighting behavior was discussed with the conclusion that sighting dominance is best understood as a residual effect caused by the egocenter being to one side of the midline and by the monocular demands of sighting tests.

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