Lateral Dominance and Reading Disability

Abstract

Theory and research on the relation of lateral dominance to the causation of reading disability is reviewed. Direct measures of cerebral hemisphere functioning indicate that the left hemisphere is dominant for speech, sequential processing, and logical thinking in nearly all right-handers and the majority of left-handers, while the right hemisphere is dominant for holistic or Gestalt perception, nonverbal reasoning, and music. However, the electroencephalograph, which is the only direct indicator of cerebral dominance that does not require surgery, does not differentiate well between disabled and normal readers. Indirect measures include measures of handedness, directionality, dichotic listening, and tachisto-scopic presentation of visual stimuli to visual half-fields. Research on the relation of such measures to reading disability is reviewed.