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Henninger tested the hypothesis that in a particular patient with multiple personality disorder, the host personality (Pe) was left hemisphere dominant, while a primary alter (Pa) was right hemisphere dominant. She did this using four measures, each administered as a complete battery on separate days to Pa and then to Pe. The patient as Pe showed no evidence of having met the examiner before, nor any familiarity with the testing materials or procedure.
The four measures were a drawing test (draw a self-portrait; draw a house, tree, and person); a cutting test (with each hand and a pair of scissors cut out a series of shapes as accurately as possible); a verbal dichotic test (reproduce in writing digits heard); a musical dichotic test (melody recognition). The results largely bore out the hypothesis: three separate and independent clinicians judged both the interest and handedness tests to be those from two separate people. The interest questionnaire showed Pa to be a young girl, and Pe an adult; whereas each set of drawings was judged to be done by a different adult. On the cutting test, Pa performed better overall, but with left-hand superiority; whereas Pe's cutting was markedly better right-handed. On the verbal dichotic test Pe showed a right-ear advantage. Pa also had a slight right-ear advantage, but consistent with right hemisphere dominance (and like children who are still right hemisphere dominant), Pa started with a left-ear preference until the task demands increased. Pe performed only at chance level in the left ear on the musical dichotic melody recognition test; while Pa, using her left ear, identified three-fourths of the melodies. (This is a right hemisphere dominated task.)