Research on spatial thinking impairments, with special reference to right-left orientation, visuomotor and visuoconstructive performances, and finger recognition are examined. It is concluded that, although some dyslexic children do show spatial disabilities, there is little evidence to support the existence of a visuospatial type of developmental…

The authors consider recent research on brain lateralization in learning disabled children that has used three different experimental paradigms, noting that these studies have advanced knowledge about factors that can affect performance on the tasks that measure lateralization, but they do not produce a conclusive picture of abnormal…

The human brain is lateralized, different functions being housed in each hemisphere. Several assumptions which are mistakenly considered fact by researchers include: (1) the left hemisphere is for rational functions, while the right is for intuitive functions; (2) the hemispheres do not interact as well with each other as they should; (3) the use…

This commentary, written in response to Witelson's work (1987), examines alternative ways of determining how the developmentally stable functional asymmetry (hemispheric specialization) observed in neurologically intact children can be reconciled with the dramatic recovery of function often displayed following unilateral brain damage. (PCB)

Dominant use of the left or right hand was studied in relation to performance in a business communication course. Data from 671 students indicated no significant difference between final grade outcome of lefthanders and that of righthanders. (JOW)

Reviews pertinent developmental and neuropsychological literature and arrives at a hypothesis relating the left brain lateralization of speech to the origin of early naming as part of selective (right-biased) orienting to perceived salience or change. (Author/SS)

This paper synthesizes the implications from hemispheric lateralization studies with the concerns and potentials of visual literacy. An overview of hemispheric lateralization research is provided, including summaries of four illustrative studies: Galin and Ornstein; Levy, Trevarthen, and Sperry; Zaidel; and Molfese. The appositional and holistic…

In the neurolinguistic approach to the study of the acquisition of reading and writing, language may be used to express thoughts and intellectual attitudes as well as emotions and emotional attitudes. Experimental studies and clinical data suggest that grammatical rules for spoken language predominantly rely on the left hemisphere of the brain,…

Apparent ambiguities in Levy and Reid's writing posture criteria and dissimilar criteria used by other investigators are discussed. This review suggests that an adequate test of hypothesized relations among handedness, hand posture during writing, sex, and cerebral organization requires development of a standard set of valid criteria for writing…

Reviews early theoretical and research literature on handedness and places it within the larger context of the nature-nurture controversy. Discussion focuses on Baldwin's study of the development of hand preference in infants in relation to the recapitulation theory, mental development ("dynamogenesis"), and speech development.…

Connectionistic notions of hemispheric specialization and use are incompatible with the network organization of the human brain. Although brain organization has correspondence with phenomena at more complex levels of analysis, the correspondence is not categorical in nature, as has been claimed by the left-brain/right-brain theorists. (Author/GC)

This article discusses the hypothesis of unilateral left hemisphere damage as an explanatory model for the neurological basis of specific language impairment considering both evidence challenging the theory as well as evidence supporting it. (Author/DB)

The history of left-handedness can provide teachers and parents a better understanding of left-handed children and give those children more pride in their difference. No child should be made to feel that he or she is abnormal because of using the left hand, although some specific instruction for these students is necessary in handwriting. Many…

Argues against the theory of hemispheric dominance and discusses the dangers of developing an educational system based on the false assumptions of two-brain theories. (SRT)

Discusses implications of lateral dominance in infants for infant stimulation and development as well as implications for parents and teachers. (Author/DB)