Abstract：Objective To explore the representation of information in foveal vision split at the midline between the two hemispheres or bilaterally represented by overlapping projections of the fovea in each hemisphere. Methods The experiment adopts lexical decision task. Pictophonetic characters (pseudowords) are presented to the left or right of fixation, either close to fixation entirely within foveal vision (<1°), or further from fixation entirely within extrafoveal vision (>3°). Eye movements were recorded with an eye tracking device, which monitored participants' fixation location. Results ① A left visual field condition (LVF)/right hemisphere (RH) advantage effect is found for phonetic-semantic characters (PS) and semantic-phonetic characters (SP) in foveal vision and extrafoveal vision. Pictophonetic characters presented to the left side of fixation are recognized more quickly and accurately. ② As the eccentric angles of fixation increasing, the LVF/RH advantage effect of PS characters does not disappear. ③ Under the right visual field condition (RVF), the processing in SP characters recognition is superior to that in PS characters recognition. The error rates of PS characters are lower than SP characters in the LVF. Conclusion The findings indicate a precise split at the vertical midline of each fovea, where all visual information from the left or right of fixation is separately projected to the contralateral hemisphere. Furthermore, the position of phonetic components may influence how written pictophonetic characters are processed in the hemisphere.
