Hemispheric differences in the visual analysis of the verbal and non-verbal material in children

Five years old children, who could not read, and the same children at the aged of 7, who already knew letters, were used as subjects. A visual procedure involved presentation of single letters or a pair of letters randomly to the left or right of a central fixation point. Reaction time and number of correct identifications, showed by pressing a key, were indicators of the perception of letters. The children of five identified the letters with equal correctness, whether they were addressed to the right or to the left hemisphere, whereas the children of seven showed left hemisphere superiority.