Dichotic listening is a well-established method to non-invasively assess hemispheric specialization for processing of speech and other auditory stimuli. However, almost six decades of research also have revealed a series of experimental variables with systematic modulatory effects on task performance. These variables are a source of systematic error variance in the data and, when uncontrolled, affect the reliability and validity of the obtained laterality measures. The present review provides a comprehensive overview of these modulatory variables and offers both guiding principles as well as concrete suggestions on how to account for possible confounding effects and avoid common pitfalls. The review additionally provides guidance for the evaluation of past studies and help for resolving inconsistencies in the available literature.

二叉听法是一种公认​​的方法，可以无创地评估半球的专业性，以处理语音和其他听觉刺激。但是，将近六十年的研究还揭示了一系列实验变量，这些变量对任务绩效具有系统的调节作用。这些变量是数据中系统误差变化的来源，并且在不受控制时会影响所获得的横向测量的可靠性和有效性。本综述提供了对这些调节变量的全面概述，并提供了指导原则以及关于如何解决可能的混杂效应和避免常见陷阱的具体建议。该评论还为评估过去的研究提供了指导，并有助于解决现有文献中的不一致之处。