Development of hemisphere specialization for tactile recognition in normal children.

8 boys and 8 girls at each three age levels (2nd-, 4th-, and 6th grade) performed a tactile-visual recognition task, in which a tactually palpated object shape had to be matched with its analogue on a visual display. The performances of the left and right hand were compared. The results indicated that the performance of the left hand was more accurate than that of the right hand for 6th grade children while no significant difference between hands emerged in 2nd- and 4th grade children. A sex difference was found, with the right hand superior to the left hand in females but not significantly different in males. These results are discussed in relation to the development of hemisphere specialization.