Hand preference, performance abilities, and hand selection in children

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.

One hand or the other? Effector selection biases in right and left handers

“…The good news is that these techniques are relatively simple and inexpensive, and can be used with minimal instruction for participants of many ages and abilities. For example, some preliminary work (Sacrey, Arnold, Whishaw & Gonzalez, 2013) suggests that a right hand grasping bias emerges at the age of 4 or 5 years, although this particular study employed only ten right handed children in each age group, so further research is needed to firm up this intriguing conclusion (which could easily be contrasted with other milestones of behavioural asymmetry; Gentry & Gabbard, 1995;Scharoun & Bryden, 2014). …”

Hand selection in a preferential reaching task: The effects of object location, orientation, and task intention in preadolescent children

“…Preference indicates the hand typically selected for an action, whereas performance differentiates between abilities of the two hands when completing an action (McManus & Bryden, 1992). Questionnaires are used most frequently to confirm the direction (i.e., left or right) of hand preference, and a plethora of options are currently available (Scharoun & Bryden, 2014). The most commonly used questionnaires are the Annett Handedness Questionnaire (Annett, 1970a), Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971), and Waterloo Handedness Questionnaire (Steenhuis, Bryden, Schwartz, & Lawson, 1990).…”

“…The most commonly used questionnaires are the Annett Handedness Questionnaire (Annett, 1970a), Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971), and Waterloo Handedness Questionnaire (Steenhuis, Bryden, Schwartz, & Lawson, 1990). Performance measures, in comparison, assess the degree (i.e., strength) of hand preference (Provins & Magliaro, 1993) through manual strength, speed, accuracy, and/or precision (Scharoun & Bryden, 2014). Peg‐moving tasks, such as the Annett Pegboard (Annett, 1970b) and Grooved Pegboard (Matthews & Klove, 1964), and manual aiming tasks (e.g., Roy & Elliott, 1986) are examples of performance assessments.…”

“…Taken together, findings have revealed patterns of handedness concurrent with those that emerge from more traditional methods (e.g., questionnaires, peg‐moving tasks). As summarized in a review from Scharoun and Bryden (2014), young children (ages 3–5) are generally observed exploring the environment. As direction of hand preference is not yet established, the hand closest to the object is typically selected, reflecting a lack of differentiation between the two hands.…”

“…Between the ages of 6 and 10, children have garnered more experience and have established which hand is more skilled; therefore, the preferred hand is selected, even in cases when it is not necessarily the most efficient. Finally, an “adult‐like” pattern of behavior is evident by approximately age 10 to 12, as preadolescent children learn to be less dependent on the preferred hand, and nonpreferred hand performance increases (Scharoun & Bryden, 2014). …”