The paper reviews research from 1970 to the present in the study of cognitive processing and language in deaf students and adults. Studies address the following topics: differential specialization (direct observation of clinical populations and indirect methods examining handedness, dichotic listening, and visual hemifield differences); cerebral specialization in hearing impaired populations (research with neurologically abnormal and normal hearing-impaired Ss); and experimental studies (studies of information transmission and laterality). The conflicting and contradictory nature of some findings is noted, and unanswered questions are summarized. It is concluded that data support the hypothesis that auditory experience is a determinant of language lateralization. (CL)