Abstract
It is widely know that the pattern of human handedness is such that approximately 90% of the population is right handed with the remainder being left handed, at least in the adult population. What is less well understood is how handedness develops and at what age adult-like handedness patterns emerge. Quantified in terms of both preference and performance, a plethora of different behavioral assessments are currently in use with both children and adults. Handedness questionnaires are commonly used; however, these possess inherent limitations, considering their subjective nature. Hand performance measures have also been implemented; however, such tasks appear to measure different components of handedness. In addition to these traditional measures, handedness has been successfully assessed through observation of hand selection in reaching, which has proven to be a unique and effective manner in understanding the development of handedness in children. Research over the past several decades has demonstrated that young children display weak, inconsistent hand preference tendencies and are slower with both hands. Performance differences between the hands are larger for young children, and consistency improves with age. However, there remains some controversy surrounding the age at which hand preference and hand performance abilities can be considered fully developed. The following paper will provide a review of the literature pertaining to hand preference, performance abilities and hand selection in children in an attempt to ascertain the age at which adult-like patterns of hand preference and performance emerge.
Highlights
Why are these variations in hand preference observed over the course of development? From a dynamic systems point of view, behavior emerges as one passes through life,“as the product of continuous intertwined reorganizations between multiple biological, environmental, and experiential factors that change and evolve as infants and children grow” (Corbetta et al, 2006)
Research has indicated that hand preference can be reliably detected from 6-months onward. Both cross-sectional (Gesell and Ames, 1947; Hawn and Harris, 1983; Peters, 1983; Michel et al, 1985; Cornwell et al, 1991; Morange and Bloch, 1996; Fagard, 1998) and longitudinal studies (Coryell and Michel, 1978; Ramsay et al, 1979; Carlson and Harris, 1985; Ramsay, 1985; Michel and Harkins, 1986; McCormick and Maurer, 1988; see Michel, 1984; Provins, 1992, for reviews) with infants indicate that some degree of hand preference is evident with the emergence of voluntary grasping. These findings suggest that human hand preference may manifest itself very early in life
The second section will explain non-traditional assessments of hand preference, paying particular attention to manual midline crossing and reaching into hemispace, as we argue that handedness assessed through the observation of hand selection in reaching provides some of the richest data regarding the development of hand preference and unimanual skill
Summary
Why are these variations in hand preference observed over the course of development? From a dynamic systems point of view, behavior emerges as one passes through life,“as the product of continuous intertwined reorganizations between multiple biological, environmental, and experiential factors that change and evolve as infants and children grow” (Corbetta et al, 2006). Handedness in children completing a task, whereas performance differentiates between the abilities of the left and right hand on a particular task (McManus and Bryden, 1992). Other researchers have noted that children 3–4 years of age do not reliably select the preferred hand to perform unimanual tasks, and that it is not until the age of 6 that a clear preference can be observed (e.g., Bryden et al, 2000a).
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