Laterality effects in cued auditory asymmetries.

The effect of cued attention on perceptual asymmetries was investigated with normal adults who differed in their lateral preference. Specifically, 15 right lateralized and a like number of mixed/left subjects were isolated on the basis of their lateral preference for visual guided motor activities. Learners' attention was directed to the left, right and both channels of dichotically presented verbal stimuli. Instructions to shift attention had little effect on the usual right-ear advantage for subjects who displayed a right of midline preference pattern. More bilateral subjects significantly improved their recognition of stimuli presented to the directed ear.