Receptive language processing and ear advantage of Down's syndrome children

A group of Down's syndrome (DS) children was tested on Part 5 of the Token Test for Children (TTC) and a dichotic listening test (DLT, digits), and their scores were compared with those of a group of retarded children with other conditions (non-DS), matched on PPVT score and CA. It was found that the DS children showed significantly more of a left ear advantage on the DLT than did the non-DS group, and also performed significantly more poorly than the non-DS children on those tasks requiring an understanding of complex syntactical structures, while they showed no such deficit in performing spatial/simultaneous tasks. When the children were redivided into groups comprised of those showing a right ear advantage, or a non right ear advantage, similar differences between the two groups were found, with the children in the right ear advantage group being superior on the syntactical tasks but not on the spatial tasks. The results are discussed in terms of a direct link, in neurologically intact children, between ear advantage and actual receptive language abilities.