Lateral Preference and Ability to Conserve Multiple Spatial Relations by Mentally Retarded Children

31 trainable mentally retarded children were divided into lateralized and mixed-dominant groups and were then tested for their ability to perform a spatial task requiring short-term memory and reversible visual imagery. Retarded children with inconsistent and crossed laterality patterns were better in visual-spatial ability than retarded children whose sided preferences were unilateral in eye, hand, ear and foot modalities. The results support the developmental importance of bilateral sensory and motor functioning.