Influence of contextual complexity on the processing of cartoons by patients with unilateral lesions.

It was examined whether the performance of right hemisphere patients in the comprehension of cartoons is predominantly influenced by disturbed processing of affective material or by cognitive deficits. Cartoons differing in their cognitive demand were presented to groups of right hemisphere patients, aphasics and normal controls. Subjects were required to identify the cartoon in a multiple choice set of four pictures. Additionally, subjects were asked to rate the funniness on a three-point scale. The results indicate that the impairment of right hemisphere patients is caused by a combination of visuo-perceptive and cognitive deficits rather than by an inability to identify the affective component of cartoons.