“Right on all Occasions?” – On the Feasibility of Laterality Research Using a Smartphone Dichotic Listening Application

Abstract

Most psychological experimentation takes place in laboratories aiming to maximize experimental control; however, this creates artificial environments that are not representative of real-life situations. Since cognitive processes usually take place in noisy environments, they should also be tested in these contexts. The recent advent of smartphone technology provides an ideal medium for such testing. In order to examine the feasibility of mobile devices (MD) in psychological research in general, and laterality research in particular, we developed a MD version of the widely used speech laterality test, the consonant-vowel dichotic listening (DL) paradigm, for use with iPhones/iPods. First, we evaluated the retest reliability and concurrent validity of the DL paradigm in its MD version in two samples tested in controlled, laboratory settings (Experiment 1). Second, we explored its ecological validity by collecting data from the general population by means of a free release of the MD version (iDichotic) to the iTunes App Store (Experiment 2). The results of Experiment 1 indicated high reliability (rICC = 0.78) and validity (rICC = 0.76–0.82) of the MD version, which consistently showed the expected right ear advantage (REA). When tested in real-life settings (Experiment 2), participants (N = 167) also showed a significant REA. Importantly, the size of the REA was not dependent on whether the participants chose to listen to the syllables in their native language or not. Together, these results establish the current MD version as a valid and reliable method for administering the DL paradigm both in experimentally controlled as well as uncontrolled settings. Furthermore, the present findings support the feasibility of using smartphones in conducting large-scale field experiments.

Users of the main smartphone operating systems (iOS, Android) differ only little in personality

“…In contrast, it is fairly common for psychological app-based studies to be run solely on either Android [39–42], iOS [43–46] or a different OS [13,47]. …”

Auditive training effects from a dichotic listening app in children with dyslexia

“…The present paper focuses on training with dichotic listening (DL) in 8‐year‐old children with dyslexia and controls, using a DL mobile application (Bless et al, ), which to our knowledge has not been used in dyslexia intervention before. Dyslexia affects the development of literacy skills and is characterised by difficulties with skills such as phonological processing, rapid naming (RAN), working memory, and processing speed.…”

How to get a left‐ear advantage: A technical review of assessing brain asymmetry with dichotic listening

“…The sample consists of N = 3,680 right‐handed participants included in Westerhausen et al . () study and the data was collected either in laboratory conditions (Lab, n = 757; see Hugdahl, ) or using the iD ichotic iP hone (Bless et al ., ) application (App, n = 2923, see Bless et al ., ). (b) The average percentage of correct left‐ ( LE ) and right‐ear ( RE ) reports in the same data set.…”