Is there a sex difference in human laterality? IV. An exhaustive survey of dual-task interference studies from six neuropsychology journals.
The entire contents of six neuropsychology journals (161 volumes, 612 issues) were screened to identify dual-task laterality experiments. Of 112 experiments thus identified, 45.5% provided information about sex differences. Although 23 experiments yielded at least one significant main effect or interaction involving the sex factor, only 5 outcomes represented an unambiguous sex difference in laterality. All 5 of those sex differences support the hypothesis of greater hemispheric specialization in males. The confirmatory outcomes constitute less than 10% of the informative experiments and less than 5% of the total population of experiments. These data alone do not rule out the possibility that sex differences are chance findings (Type I errors). However, when considered along with similar results from perceptual laterality data previously examined, the dual-task data fit the pattern of a small but reliable population-level sex difference in human laterality.
Hiscock
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Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5341, USA. mhiscock@uh.edu
Perachio
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N
Inch
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D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012727:Sex Characteristics