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The Human Infant in Studies of Lateralization of Function

A Historical Perspective

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Abstract

For a long time, study of the human infant has been recognized as a window into human nature. The infant’s role in theories about vision and perception are perhaps the most familiar, but the infant has played a conspicuous role as well in theories about handedness and lateral specialization of the brain. To begin this section of the book on historical perspectives and new directions in the study of the ontogeny of lateralization, I shall describe the infant’s role in early theories, those, by and large, developed in the 19th century and before. We shall see that many of the general themes of this early work figure in the current theory and research to be discussed in the following chapters.

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Harris, L.J. (1991). The Human Infant in Studies of Lateralization of Function. In: Fitzgerald, H.E., Lester, B.M., Yogman, M.W. (eds) Theory and Research in Behavioral Pediatrics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3680-2_5

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