Recognition of facial expression in diverging socioeconomic levels

Cerebral organization has been seen to vary in different social or ethnic groups; also, sociocultural retardation is a serious obstacle to development in poorer countries. The ability of the right hemisphere to recognize facial emotions in a tachistoscopic task was tested in university and low-socioeconomic-level subjects. All were male and right-handed. The university students recognized facial emotions projected to their left field-right hemisphere significantly better than with their right field-left hemisphere; the low-socioeconomic-level subjects showed no differences in hemispheric performance. The explanation of laterality as a function of social class may be of importance in dealing with sociocultural retardation.