Sources of between-subjects variability in perceptual asymmetries: A meta-analytic review

A number of studies have reported correlations between subjects' asymmetry scores on left and right hemisphere specialized tasks. In this paper we report the results of meta-analyses performed on these correlations. Results showed positive correlations between subjects' asymmetry scores on left and right hemisphere specialized tasks in both modalities (asymmetry scores were computed as R-L for both left and right hemisphere specialized tasks). Thus, in both modalities, some of the between-subjects variability in asymmetry scores appears to reflect non-stimulus specific individual differences in perceptual asymmetry. For the visual asymmetry tasks, results also showed that the subjects' asymmetry scores on left and right hemisphere specialized tasks were more highly correlated under conditions of bilateral than unilateral input. This finding suggests that bilateral tasks may be more sensitive to "characteristic perceptual asymmetry" than unilateral tasks.

[1]  H. Ehrlichman,et al.  Consistency of task-related EEG asymmetries. , 1979, Psychophysiology.

[2]  J B Hellige,et al.  Hemisphere-specific interference in dichotic listening: task variables and individual differences. , 1983, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[3]  B BenderMorris,et al.  DISORDERS IN PERCEPTION , 1954 .

[4]  J. Dabbs,et al.  Left-right carotid blood flow predicts specialized mental ability , 1980, Neuropsychologia.

[5]  P Bakan,et al.  On Reliability of Conjugate Lateral Eye Movements , 1973, Perceptual and motor skills.

[6]  S. Levine,et al.  Variations in characteristic perceptual asymmetry: Modality specific and modality general components , 1992, Brain and Cognition.

[7]  Judith L. Lauter,et al.  Stimulus characteristics and relative ear advantages: A new look at old data , 1983 .

[8]  M. Studdert-Kennedy,et al.  A continuum of lateralization for speech perception? , 1975, Brain and Language.

[9]  A. Young,et al.  Hemisphericity: A critical review , 1984 .

[10]  T. Marcel,et al.  Lateral specialization for recognition of words and faces in good and poor readers , 1975, Neuropsychologia.

[11]  G. Glass,et al.  Meta-analysis in social research , 1981 .

[12]  P. Bakan,et al.  Resting EEG Alpha and Asymmetry of Reflective Lateral Eye Movements , 1969, Nature.

[13]  Jerre Levy,et al.  Perceptual asymmetry for chimeric faces across the life span , 1986, Brain and Cognition.

[14]  R. Rosenthal.  Meta-analytic procedures for social research , 1984 .

[15]  K M Heilman,et al.  Hemispace-visual field interactions in visual extinction. , 1987, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[16]  F. Spellacy,et al.  Lateral Preferences in the Identification of Patterned Stimuli , 1970 .

[17]  J. Murray.  The role of spatial complexity in the perception of speech and pure tones in dichotic listening , 1986, Brain and Cognition.

[18]  M. Banich,et al.  Variations in patterns of lateral asymmetry among dextrals , 1984, Brain and Cognition.

[19]  Brenda Milner,et al.  Clinical and Surgical Studies of the Cerebral Speech Areas in Man , 1975 .

[20]  S. Kosslyn.  Seeing and imagining in the cerebral hemispheres: a computational approach. , 1987, Psychological review.

[21]  R. Rosenthal.  Combining results of independent studies. , 1978 .

[22]  J. Hellige,et al.  Categorization versus distance: Hemispheric differences for processing spatial information , 1989, Memory & cognition.

[23]  R. Efron.  The Decline and Fall of Hemispheric Specialization , 1990 .

[24]  P. McDonald,et al.  Differences in bilateral alpha activity as a function of experimental task with a note on lateral eye movements and hypnotizability. , 1971, Neuropsychologia.

[25]  P. Satz.  Laterality Tests: An Inferential Problem , 1977, Cortex.

[26]  John L. Bradshaw,et al.  Right hemisphere language and cognitive deficit in sinistrals? , 1981, Neuropsychologia.

[27]  H. N. Magoun.  Thomas, Springfield, Illinois , 1965 .

[28]  J. Hellige,et al.  Multitask investigation of individual differences in hemispheric asymmetry. , 1988, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[29]  Marie T Banich,et al.  Asymmetry of perception in free viewing of chimeric faces , 1983, Brain and Cognition.

[30]  Terry Halwes,et al.  Use of a statistical significance criterion in drawing inferences about hemispheric dominance for language function from dichotic listening data , 1981, Brain and Language.

[31]  R. Gur,et al.  Cerebral activation, as measured by subjects' lateral eye movements, is influenced by experimenter location , 1975, Neuropsychologia.

[32]  Inferring patterns of hemispheric specialization for individual subjects from laterality data: A two-task criterion , 1991, Neuropsychologia.

[33]  L. Harris,et al.  The relationship between cerebral lateralization and cognitive ability: Suggested criteria for empirical tests , 1988, Brain and Cognition.

[34]  D. Boles.  Do visual field asymmetries intercorrelate? , 1989, Neuropsychologia.

[35]  M. Bryden.  Perceptual asymmetry in vision: relation to handedness, eyedness, and speech lateralization. , 1973, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior.

[36]  J. Sidtis.  Predicting brain organization from dichotic listening performance: Cortical and subcortical functional asymmetries contribute to perceptual asymmetries , 1982, Brain and Language.

[37]  S. Levine,et al.  Are variations among subjects in lateral asymmetry real individual differences or random error in measurement?: Putting variability in its place , 1990, Brain and Cognition.

[38]  Robert J. Zatorre,et al.  Perceptual asymmetry on the dichotic fused words test and cerebral speech lateralization determined by the carotid sodium amytal test , 1989, Neuropsychologia.

[39]  S. Blumstein,et al.  The influence of language set on ear preference in phoneme recognition. , 1970, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior.

[40]  C. Chiarello,et al.  Choosing sides: On the variability of language lateralization in normal subjects , 1984, Neuropsychologia.

[41]  R. Zatorre.  Recognition of dichotic melodies by musicians and nonmusicians , 1978, Neuropsychologia.

[42]  E. Teng.  Dichotic ear difference is a poor index for the functional asymmetry between the cerebral hemispheres , 1981, Neuropsychologia.

[43]  Glyn W. Humphreys,et al.  Perceptual and Action Systems in Unilateral Visual Neglect , 1987 .

[44]  E. Eidelberg,et al.  Experimental analysis of the extinction phenomenon in monkeys. , 1971, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[45]  M. Banich,et al.  Are variations among right-handed individuals in perceptual asymmetries caused by characteristic arousal differences between hemispheres? , 1983, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[46]  K. Kirsner,et al.  Can group differences in hemispheric asymmetry be inferred from behavioral laterality indices? , 1984, Brain and Cognition.

[47]  C. Colbourn.  Can laterality be measured? , 1978, Neuropsychologia.

[48]  P. Zoccolotti,et al.  Field Dependence and Lateralization of Verbal and Configurational Processing , 1976, Cortex.

[49]  S. Segalowitz,et al.  Music draws attention to the left and speech draws attention to the right , 1985, Brain and Cognition.

[50]  E. Yund,et al.  Dichotic competition of simultaneous tone bursts of different frequency: IV. Correlation with dichotic competition of speech signals , 1976, Brain and Language.