title: Cross-modal correlation of dichotic and tachistoscopic language laterality tasks: the importance of familial sinistrality.
abstract: Previous studies have found little if any correlation between dichotic and tachistoscopic language laterality task performance asymmetries. Problems with these studies have been that quite dissimilar auditory and visual tasks have often been used, and the reliability of the asymmetry measures has generally been unknown or, when known, relatively poor. We assessed the cross-modal correlation for two tasks, the Bilateral Object Naming Latency Task (BONLT) and the Dichotic Object Naming Latency Task (DONLT). These tasks are highly similar and have demonstrated high reliabilities. A significant, though rather small, cross-modal correlation was found (r = +.28). When cross-modal correlations were computed for FS- and FS+ subjects separately, no correlation was found for FS+ subjects (r = +.02), but the correlation for FS- subjects was highly significant (r = +.54, p less than .004). This led us to reexamine some previously collected data (P.L. Van Eys and W. F. McKeever, 1988, Brain and Cognition, 4, 413-429) which had administered two highly reliable language laterality tasks (the BONLT and the Dichotic Consonant Vowel Task), but had not assessed cross-modal correlation. A significant cross-modal correlation was found for FS- but not for FS+ subjects. The results are consistent with the hypothesis of H. Hecaen, M. De Agnostini, and A. Monzon-Montes (1981, Brain and Language, 12, 261-284) which suggests that one effect of FS+ is to induce a greater heterogeneity of localizations of different language processes.
authors.affiliation: Bowling Green State University.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Krutsch
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: McKeever
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005556:Form Perception / Q000235:genetics*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012660:Semantics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary