par Bertelson, Paul 
Référence International journal of psychology, 17, 1-4, page (173-210)
Publication Publié, 1982
Référence International journal of psychology, 17, 1-4, page (173-210)
Publication Publié, 1982
Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | The historical development of work on lateral differences (LDs) is described and an evaluation is attempted of the present state of the study and of the conceptual and methodological problems which it encounters.Contemporary work is mainly motivated by the notion that LDs reflect hemispheric specialization and thus provide a means of studying hemisphere function in easily available normal subjects. Work on LDs in visual recognition has first been conducted, however, within a completely different conceptual framework. Right visual field advantage (RVFA) for words and letters was first thought of as reflecting the left-to-right direction of latin writing which produces opportunity for differential perceptual learning in the two hemifields or, as was later considered, creates left-to-right scanning habits. On the contrary, right ear advantage (REA) in dichotic listening was, from its discovery by Kimura, shown to be linked to lateralization of speech control in the left hemisphere. The possibility that visual field effects could also be related to hemispheric specialization was then examined by looking for effects of handedness and for correlations between LDs and pathological data. After considerable initial resistance, the notion has become widely accepted. |
