Dichotic Listening and Reading Acquisition in Children: A One-Year Follow-Up

Abstract

Two dichotic listening experiments on hemispheric asymmetry and reading acquisition in children are reported. In the first experiment, 60 eight-year-old children were divided into three groups with different levels of reading acquisition. In order to separate attentional factors from hemisphere factors, all subjects were requested to attend to and report only the right-ear input in one third of the trials, to attend to the left-ear input in one third, and to be free to divide attention either way in one third. The results showed an expected right-ear advantage (REA) in all groups during the forced-right, and nonforced recall conditions. However, a REA was also found during the forced-left recall condition for subjects less advanced in reading. The same children were followed-up 1 year later in a second experiment. The results showed that the REA during the forced-left condition for the less advanced subjects in Experiment 1 was in essence shifted to a left-ear advantage (LEA) in Experiment 2. The relationships of attentional factors in hemispheric asymmetry and reading acquisition are discussed.