ABSTRACT

This study examines patterns of ear advantage and attentional capacity among religious teachers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church versus adults who are not religious teachers. Religious education, rooted mainly in Christianity and Islam, has a long history in Ethiopia. Most of such education has been practised through recitations and oral presentations, which demand perceptual vigour particularly on the part of the teachers. The present study employed a dichotic listening paradigm, using monosyllabic word and CV-syllables listening tasks, administered in three attentional conditions: non-forced (NF), forced-right (FR) and forced-left (FL). 54 right-handed male adults (27 teachers and 27 non-teachers) served as participants. Percentages of correct responses per ear, as well as Laterality Index (LI) were calculated and analysed using a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical procedure. Results showed that, on both listening tasks, the religious teachers demonstrated a higher ear advantage in all conditions, indicative of stronger language asymmetry (in non-forced condition) and better ability to focus on one specific ear (in forced conditions). The findings of the present study are very much in support of the theory of neuroplasticity in human cognition (Konorski, 1948).

摘要

本研究考察了埃塞俄比亚东正教的宗教教师与非宗教教师的成年人的耳朵优势和注意力模式。主要植根于基督教和伊斯兰教的宗教教育在埃塞俄比亚有着悠久的历史。大多数此类教育是通过背诵和口头报告进行的，这需要特别是教师的感性活力。本研究采用双歧听范式，使用单音节单词和 CV 音节听力任务，在三种注意条件下进行：非强迫 (NF)、强迫右 (FR) 和强迫左 (FL)。54 名右撇子成年男性（27 名教师和 27 名非教师）作为参与者。每只耳朵正确反应的百分比，使用重复测量方差分析 (ANOVA) 统计程序计算和分析横向指数 (LI)。结果表明，在两项听力任务中，宗教教师在所有条件下都表现出更高的耳朵优势，表明语言不对称性更强（在非强迫条件下）和更好地专注于特定耳朵的能力（在强迫条件下）。本研究的结果非常支持人类认知中的神经可塑性理论（Konorski，1948）。