The lighter side of advertising

Abstract

preference and performance abilities, a cross-sectional sample of 548 children (ages 3–18) and adults (over 19) completed the Waterloo Handedness Questionnaire, the WatHand Cabinet Test (an observational test of hand preference), and the Annett pegboard. Findings revealed that while the direction of hand preference does not change significantly with age, the degree of hand preference does, such that younger children exhibit weaker hand preference than older children and adults. This pattern of hand preference was much more evident for lefthanded individuals, where consistent hand preference was not seen until 8 years of age. Similarly, performance differences between the hands did not emerge for left-handers until later childhood, while in comparison large performance differences were seen for right-handers at all ages. The implications for the development of handedness will be discussed.