Lateral specialization of a perpetual calendar task by a moderately mentally retarded adult

The lateral eye movements of a moderately mentally retarded adult with exceptional ability in a perpetual calendar task were examined. Questions with a perpetual calendar, mathematical, or musical and spatial content were presented to the subject in a random order and lateral eye movements were rated by blind observers. Results showed that both the perpetual calendar and mathematical questions elicited a significant proportion of lateral movements to the right, ps less than .001 and .05, respectively, whereas the musical and spatial questions did not elicit lateral eye movements with a specific direction.