Open Collections

Dichotic speech perception in two-year-old children

University of British Columbia

In the present study, dichotic listening performance of two-year-old children was investigated. Single pairs of words were presented dichoticaly to thirty-one children between GA 2-0-12 and 3-1-20. Each subject was asked to point to pictures of what he had heard. For each pair of words presented, a subject was shown three pictures, which corresponded to the two stimulus words and a foil word. Differences between number of correct responses for each ear were evaluated by means of a t test. Words presented to the right ear were more efficiently recalled than words presented to the left ear, in this age group , which suggests that the left hemisphere has achieved some degree of dominance for language by age two. No statisticaly significant differences were noted, in degree of right ear advantage, between males and females. When studies using school age and adult subjects are compared, it appears that the right ear advantage does not change in magnitude or direction from age two until adulthood. Results of the present investigation are discussed in relation to existing theories of the development of cerebral lateralization. An attempt was made to relate experimental results from dichotic listening,. EEG, and clinical studies. Limitations of the experiment, as wall as suggestions for further research, are discussed.

Text

2011-03-30

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/33114

Audiology and Speech Sciences

University of British Columbia

Graduate