SUMMARY.The performance of 10 cross-lateral children was compared with a control group of 10 uni-lateral children on short-term information processing tasks using three types of units-digits, letters and symbols. The tasks consisted of presenting different numbers of units of information simultaneously by tachistoscopic exposure. The cross-lateral group took significantly longer to identify accurately the information presented : their performance significantly deteriorated as the information load was increased from three to five units. The cross-lateral group was also significantly inferior to the matched control group on reading age. It is contended that the reading retardation associated with cross-laterality (which is indicative of ill-established cerebral dominance) is a specific manifestation of a general limitation in any kind of information processing.