Abstract: People often exhibit a directional preference when they pay attention to the stimulus. This preference has been called the spatial bias effect. Two views have been put forward to account for the causes of spatial bias: the brain hypothesis and the cultural hypothesis. The brain hypothesis holds that the asymmetry of the brain accounts for spatial bias. The cultural hypothesis suggests that factors such as reading and writing habits are the main causes of spatial bias. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, this paper proposes that the two views have advantages and disadvantages in explanatory power. By combining the two views, a brain-culture hypothesis is proposed that may better elucidate the spatial bias phenomenon.

Key words: spatial bias, brain hypothesis, culture hypothesis