Lateralization in Gifted Children

Performance on measures of perceptual and lateral asymmetry of 28 intellectually gifted children (ages 10-12) were compared with performances of 28 controls of average intelligence. As a group, the gifted subjects did not differ significantly from controls in type or degree of lateralization, although the control males demonstrated a stronger right-side preference on the Dean Lateral Preference Schedule (DLPS). A Group x Sex interaction was found in a combined analysis of DLPS and Dichotic Listening (DL), and with DL alone, suggesting that gifted males and females demonstrate lateral asymmetries that differ from their same-sex control counterparts. Implications of these findings are discussed.