The Peculiarity of Lateral Preferences and the Quality of the Task Performance within the Go/Go Paradigm in Children with Complex Language Disabilities

Abstract

The present study has tested the hypothesis of the connection of speech problems in children with left-handedness with the realisation of some high-speed reactions, in particular, a simple sensorimotor reaction in the paradigm of go/go. The handedness is determined on the basis of a set of tests; their results correlate with the results of dichotic testing. The study involves 90 children without any speech disorders and 47 children with complex speech disturbances (CSD). It is shown that the children with CSD are more likely to be not left-handed but mixed-handed in comparison with children with no speech disorders. The probability of speech diagnosis is connected with the mother's age at birth and her level of education. The older the mother at birth is and the higher the level of her education is, the less likelihood of speech diagnosis is. The children without any CSD are more steady and better at performing the task in the go/go paradigm in comparison with the children with CSD. The stability of the task performance is associated with the age of the parents. The older the father and mother are, the more effective the child without any CSD during the second part of the task works.