Twenty-four adults with mild mental retardation were compared with equal-mental age children and adults without mental retardation on tactile processing asymmetries. Results suggest that hemispheric processing is dependent on information processing requirements rather than type of stimulus. (Author/JDD)

This study of 38 right-handed children (age range 90 to 201 months) with dyslexia found characteristic patterns of organization of intellectual functions, of hemispheric specialization, and of reading errors in the subtypes, identified as linguistic dyslexia, perceptual dyslexia, and mixed dyslexia. (DB)

Examined ability of individuals biologically predisposed to poor spatial skills to capitalize on opportunities to develop these skills. Found that for girls with brothers, those from all right-handed families had lower mental-rotation scores than did others. Among children participating in mental-rotation-type activities with their brothers,…

Previous research has indicated that 70-85% of women and girls show a bias to hold infants, or dolls, to the left side of their body. This bias is not matched in males (e.g. deChateau, Holmberg & Winberg, 1978; Todd, 1995). This study tests an explanation of cradling preferences in terms of hemispheric specialization for the perception of facial…

The present study investigated the influence of sex, handedness, level in second language (L2) and Faculty choice on the performance of phonological, syntactical and semantic tasks in L2. Level in L2 and sex were the most affecting factors. Subjects who achieved higher scores on L2 tasks had strong second language aptitude skills since they were…

In the present study, an attempt was made to examine the nature and persistence of bilateral transfer of a throwing skill for a large sample of male and female children. One hundred sixty children ages 6, 8, 10, and 12 years were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group with an equal number of boys and girls in each group. The…

Forty-eight male and 54 female left-handed junior college students in Stockholm were grouped according to familial sinistrality and strength of handedness. Performance on computerized reaction time (RT), maze, and verbal ability tests was assessed. Sex was the only factor differentiating left-handers on RT, and no factors affected verbal ability.…

This article reports on the development of a screening checklist for identifying children who might have developmental coordination disorder (DCD), use of the checklist to determine incidence rates in East Kent (United Kingdom), and possible relationships between DCD and left-handedness and between DCD and self-concept. (DB)

Examined, over a 10-year span, continuity in individual differences in cross-modal transfer to visually recognized shapes that had previously been felt but not seen. Found that cross-modal performance showed a left-hand advantage at 11 years. Cross-age correlations were significant when tactual exploration at 11 years was done with the left hand.…

According to A. R. Luria (1973) the cerebral organization of mental activity can be understood through analyzing how mental activity is altered in different local brain lesions. Recent brain function research has used this approach in locating areas of the brain involved in specific processes. This study recognized the importance of this method…

The four reports contained in this document examine the effects of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which entered the lives of many children in the United States in 1986. The first report discusses a study of children's interaction with the game hardware. The study of fourth- and fifth-grade students indicated that children's interaction…

Examined the contribution of biological and environmental variables to 11-year-olds' phonological development. Found that temporal lobe (planar) asymmetry, hand preference, family history of reading disability, and SES explained over half the variance in phonological and verbal performance, demonstrating a linear association between cerebral…

An experiment was conducted to examine whether perceptual information, specifically the shape of objects, is activated during semantic processing. Subjects judged whether a target word was related to a prime word. Prime-target pairs that were not associated, but whose referents had similar shapes (e.g. LADDER-RAILROAD) yielded longer ''no''…

Background: There is considerable interest in differences in students' approaches to learning, particularly in the difference between "deep" approaches (characterized by contextualization, critical review and recognition of the value of the content) and "surface" approaches (characterized by rote learning for functional…

A variety of topics on human development is covered in this annual report. The 11 articles are: (1) "Young Children's Personifying and Vitalistic Biology" (Kayoko Inagaki and Giyoo Hatano); (2) "Acoustic Analysis of Natural Maternal Speech to Preschool Language Impaired and Normal Children" (Debora L. Scheffel and Murray…