University of Chicago researchers have found that language affects perception, supporting the Whorfian hypothesis. The effects were noted in the right half of the visual field, but much less, if at all, in the left half.

Language function is processed predominantly in the left hemisphere of the brain, which receives visual information directly from the right visual field. “So it would make sense for the language processes of the left hemisphere to influence perception more in the right half of the visual field than in the left half,” said Terry Regier of the University of Chicago.

In the study, reaction times to targets in the right visual field were faster when the target and distractor colors had different names; in contrast, reaction times to targets in the left visual field were not affected by the names of the target and distractor colors.

References:

Aubrey L. Gilbert et al., “Whorf hypothesis is supported in the right visual field but not the left,” PNAS, January 10, 2006, vol. 103, no. 2, 489-494

University of Chicago news release