title: Interaural asymmetries revealed by dichotic listening tests in normal and dyslexic children.
abstract: Normal and dyslexic right-handed children were assessed with three dichotic listening tests, the Dichotic Digits test, the Competing Words subtest of the SCAN, and the Dichotic Consonant-Vowel test. Performance was measured as both number and percentage of correct responses in the right and left ears. Laterality was defined as a simple difference in percentage between the two ears. Differences across the tests were revealed for all children, with the greatest differences occurring for left-ear responses. Only one dichotic listening test, Competing Words from the SCAN, produced a consistent right-ear advantage across all of the children tested. Between groups of children, differences in performance and in laterality were demonstrated. Using a criterion of poorer than 76 percent correct for the left ear, the Competing Words subtest of the SCAN identified 7 of the 10 dyslexic children as abnormal, with no false alarms in the control group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Moncrieff
authors.forename: Frank E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Musiek
mesh_terms: D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D010700:Phonetics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology