Handedness for acquiring objects was assessed monthly from 6 to 14 months in 328 infants (182 males). A group based trajectory model identified 3 latent groups with different developmental trajectories: those with an identifiable right preference (38%) or left preference (14%) and those without an identifiable preference (48%) but with a…

Used two tapping tasks to determine whether individual infants' right- or left-hand preference for unimanual and bimanual tapping corresponded to their handedness in bimanual manipulation tasks during the second year of life. Also examined whether manual tapping preference occurred before or after the onset of bimanual handedness. (JMB)

Forty-two right-handed preschool children listened to dichotic presentations of digit names and were told to report only the digit arriving at the designated ear. A significant right-ear superiority was found, demonstrating a left lateralization of verbal processing in children as young as three years of age. (Author/JMB)

Examines the possible developmental relationship between unimanual handedness and duplicated syllable babbling. Thirty infants were tested at weekly intervals between five months of age and eight weeks after the onset of duplicated syllable babbling. Results suggest developmental change in hemispheric specialization or at least asymmetrical…

Examined were electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetries during the presence of discrete facial signs of emotion among 10-month-old infants who were tested in a standard stranger- and mother-approach paradigm that included a brief separation from mother. Data underscore the usefulness of EEG measures of hemispheric activation in differentiating among…

Results of an experiment investigating the effects of laterality, movement, and language on 160 first grade children's ability to conserve multiple-space relations seem to be consistent with neurophysiological evidence attesting to the asymmetrical functioning of the cerebral hemispheres. (Author/WY)

Reports two studies which examined the relationship among (1) the ability to determine horizontality, (2) a general test of spatial abilities, and (3) hemispheric activation as measured by lateral eye movements. (JMB)

Investigates hemispheric asymmetries in children for processing auditory material which varies in emotional intonation or verbal content. Children in kindergarten, fourth, and eighth grades reported on the emotional and verbal content of dichotically presented sentences. Findings indicate that the right hemisphere is specialized for mediating…

Binaural and dichotic tasks of varying complexity were given to seven- and nine-year-old children to investigate the interaction of laterality and selective attention. (JMB)

The sighting dominance and acuity of second-, fourth-, and seventh-grade children, and of college students were measured. Results showed a right versus left sighting dominance occurring in a ratio of 2:1 at each age. Patterns of acuity dominance also remained constant across grades. (Author/JMB)

Examines hemispheric differences in processing tachistoscopically presented faces in right-handed 8-, 11-, and 13-year-olds. Concludes that younger children and males at all ages use a diffuse right-hemisphere processing strategy in recognizing faces, whereas some older females use a more integrated right-hemispheric strategy. (Author/CB)

Verbal and musical stimuli were presented to infants in a study of the relations of evoked potential left-right amplitude asymmetries to gender and hand preference. There was a relation between asymmetry and hand preference, and for girls, between asymmetry and stimulus condition. Results suggest a gender difference in cerebral hemisphere…

Investigates the different levels in the visual system at which laterality effects may be elicited in children and adults in five different experiments. (LLK)

Investigates the relationship between the perinatal hormonal environment and the development of cognitive sex differences. Compares 25 upper class women aged 14 to 24 who were exposed prenatally to diethylstilbestrol (DES) and their unexposed sisters. Subjects show a more masculine pattern of lateralization than their sisters but are similar in…

Focuses on the differential representation of mental functions between the two human cerebral hemispheres. The manner in which right hemisphere function laterizes in childhood was studied in 98 five- to twelve-year-old children. (CM)