An Evaluation of Some Models of Laterality Effects in Dichotic Listening

Abstract

In dichotic listening studies, verbal material presented to the right ear is more accurately identified than similar material presented to the left ear. This phenomenon has been attributed both to a difference in the perceptual efficiency of the two hemispheres, and to a bias in the order of reporting the material. Four different models to account for this phenomenon are presented. A dichotic listening experiment is described in which a right-ear superiority was observed on both the channel recalled first and the channel recalled second. These data, as well as those obtained from a review of the literature, support the conclusion that right-ear superiority in dichotic listening is due to a perceptual factor. The research reported in this experiment was carried out while the author was at McGill University, and was supported by Grant no. 9401–11 from the Defence Research Board of Canada to D. O. Hebb. The preparation of the present paper was supported in part by Grant no. APA-95 from the National Research Council of Canada.