This dissertation explores whether strongly right handed, strong left handed, and mixed-handed individuals vary in their recognition and recall of presented object- and meta-level statements. Research suggests that the left hemisphere (LH) of the brain may be more involved in object-level cognitions while the right hemisphere (RH) may be more involved in the formation of meta-level cognitions (Niebauer, 2004). Research also suggests that individuals differ as a function of strong vs. mixed handedness in meta-cognitive abilities (Jasper & Christman, 2001). Seventy-two adults were classified as right-, mixed- or left-handed based on results of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI). Participants listened to a recorded presentation of a randomized list of five meta-level statements and five object-level statements and were then asked to recall as many statements as possible in 150 seconds. Following the recall task, participants were asked to recognize the statements just heard from a list containing all ten presented statements intermixed randomly with ten novel statements. There were no significant results for the overall test of inter-group differences for recognition of meta-level versus object-level statements. For recall of meta-level versus object-level statements, right-handed participants recalled significantly more words from object-level statements (M = 11.125, SD = 4.775) than left-handed participants (M = 7.250, SD = 4.980), p=.023. Results are discussed in terms of interference and aging theories.
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