ONTOGENY OF CEREBRAL DOMINANCE - EVIDENCE FROM TIME-SHARING ASYMMETRY IN CHILDREN

Used a dual-task procedure as a measure of speech lateralization in 151 normal, right-handed, 3-12 yr old children. Ss engaged in unimanual finger tapping with and without concurrent speech. It was hypothesized that if speech is left lateralized, talking should disrupt right-hand tapping (an instance of intrahemispheric interference) more than left-hand tapping (an instance of interhemispheric interference). Results for 2 different verbal tasks show the predicted overall asymmetry but no developmental trend in degree of asymmetry. The data suggest that lateralization is as marked in young children as in older children. About 70% of the Ss showed the predicted effect; there was no significant change in incidence as a function of grade level. Analyses of verbal production indicated that the performance asymmetry could not be attributed to an asymmetrical trade-off between talking and tapping. No sex differences in performance asymmetry were found. The results contradict the traditional model of progressive lateralization but corroborate the developmental invariance frequently observed using perceptual measures of language lateralization. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1978 American Psychological Association.