Abstract: Evidence from researches in the later 20th century suggested that there was a debate about whether the hemispheric asymmetry emerged at an early or a later stage in the processing of global /local aspects of Navon-hierarchical stimulus. Recent electrophysiological and functional imaging studies have shown that hemispheric asymmetry effect in global/local processing may be a complex and dynamic system modulated by many factors; hemispheric asymmetry at early information representation stage may be mainly affected by perceptual factors, while hemispheric difference at the later stage of perceptual processing may be mainly modulated by attentional manipulation and response conflicts

Key words: global/local processing, hemispheric asymmetry, perceptual factors, attentional manipulation, response conflicts