INTERHEMISPHERIC TRANSFER OF TACTILE INFORMATiON BY LEAANINO DISABLED CHILDREN

A sample of 32 right-handed, learning disabled children aged 8-10 yr., 11-13 yr., and 14-16 yr. were presented a tactile discrimination task. Pairs of fabrics of the same or different texture were presented to the same hand (Uncrossed condition) or alternating hands (Crossed condition). The Uncrossed hand condition and the Croised hand condition are inferred to relate to intraand interhemispheric processing or the transfer of information within and between the cerebral hemispheres. A repeated measures design was used to investigate the performance on the tactile discrimination task using a Verbal Response Mode and a Nonverbal Response Mode. Analyses indicated the number of Uncrossed c.rrors and Crossed rrrors were significantly greater for the Verbal Response Mode as compared to the Nonverbal Response Mode. In addition, the youngest learning disabled children (8-10 yr. olds) made significantly more Crossed errors in the Verbal Response Mode as compared to the Nonverbal Response Mode. These results suggest that younger learning disabled children may experience greater difficulty using a Verbal Response Mode on a task which is inferred to require interhemispheric transfer of information.