title: Is hemispheric specialization important to scholastic achievement?
abstract: Scholastic achievement in both reading and mathematics were examined as a function of hemispheric specialization for visually presented words and pictures. Two groups of subjects (mean ages = 8.8 and 13.3) were included so that hemispheric specialization at an early and later phase of reading sophistication could be monitored. The results indicated that a lack of specialization for words is associated with higher reading achievement in both age groups and that right hemispheric specialization for words is likely to be accompanied by less reading skill. The results were discussed in terms of developmental changes in hemispheric processing and the need to investigate a variety of hemispheric specialization patterns and a variety of acquired skills (music, mathematics, art).
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002648:Child; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D014706:Verbal Learning