Equipotentiality of function in dichotic listening.
Listeners who had demonstrated right-ear dichotic listening preference in the first of four listening sessions were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. Both groups participated in three more dichotic listening sessions. For sessions 2 and 3, left-ear responses were reinforced for the experimental group listeners. There was a significant interaction between groups and sessions. After a drop to equal numbers of right- and left-ear responses in session 2, the control group demonstrated significant right-ear preference in sessions 3 and 4. The responses of the experimental group showed strong left-ear preferences in sessions 2 and 3. Their left-ear gains were preserved in session 4, while their right-ear responses returned to the level demonstrated in session 1. It was concluded that the experimental group had learned to attend to and report left-ear stimuli without loss of right-ear report competence. Within the experimental paradigm, equipotentiality of function has been demonstrated.
D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D004423:Ear; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning