Ear asymmetry for monaurally presented word lists in children and adults

In order to study ear asymmetry during monaural stimulation, 80 listeners were asked to recall the word which followed a probe word in 40, 10-word lists. Subjects were divided into four age groups: 7-9, 13-16, 25-30, and 60+ years. Probe words occurred in early (position 2) or late (position 7) in each 10 word list. Superior recall accuracy was shown when words were presented to the right ear of 48 subjects. 12 subjects demonstrated superior left ear performance, and 20 subjects performed equally well in each ear. Subjects showing superior right ear performance also demonstrated superior overall performance. Older children and younger adults performed significantly better than younger children or older adults. The factor of subject sex was not significant. Ear asymmetry during monaural stimulation appeared to be related to competition between incoming and rehearsed stimuli during central memory processing.