The development of handedness and dichotic ear listening asymmetries in relation to school achievement: a longitudinal study.
To assess the development of dichotic ear asymmetries and handedness, 208 male school children were evaluated in kindergarten and at Grades 2 and 5 (ages 66, 92, and 130 months of age, respectively) with a dichotic listening task and a hand preference test. The Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) also was administered at each of the three grade levels. There was significant variability in handedness scores over time only for those subjects whose scores at initial testing, that is, in kindergarten, identified them as non-right-handers. Both right and left handers had a significant increase in dichotic listening scores over time; however, only right handers had a significant right ear advantage at each evaluation. Regression analyses showed that combined hand preference scores and ear recall scores at each probe when combined accounted for almost 44% of the variance in WRAT achievement scores at Grade 5. Ear asymmetry scores, however, were not predictive of school achievement.
D000124:Achievement; D000367:Age Factors; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004522:Educational Status; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology