Is crossed laterality associated with academic achievement and intelligence? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Over the last century, sporadic research has suggested that people whose hand, eye, foot, or ear dominances are not consistently right- or left-sided are at special risk of suffering academic difficulties. This phenomenon is known as crossed laterality. Although the bulk of this research dates from 1960’s and 1970’s, crossed laterality is becoming increasingly popular in the area of school education, driving the creation of several interventions aimed at restoring or consolidating lateral dominance. However, the available evidence is fragmentary. To determine the impact of crossed laterality on academic achievement and intelligence, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of articles published since 1900. The inclusion criteria for the review required that studies used one or more lateral preference tasks for at least two specific parts of the body; they included a valid measure of crossed laterality; they measured the impact of crossed laterality on academic achievement or intelligence; and they included participants between 3 and 17 years old. The final sample included 26 articles that covered a total population of 3578 children aged 5 to 12. Taken collectively, the results of these studies do not support the claim that there is a reliable association between crossed laterality and either academic achievement or intelligence. Along with this, we detected important shortcomings in the literature, such as considerable heterogeneity among the variables used to measure laterality and among the tasks utilized to measure the outcomes. The educational implications of these results are discussed.

The effectiveness of refutation texts to correct misconceptions among educators.

“…Half of them are backed by robust evidence and the remaining 18 statements have null or very weak evidence and can be considered misconceptions (see Tables 1 and 2). These items were extracted from previous questionnaires (Dekker et al, 2012), meta-analyses (Ferrero, West, & Vadillo, 2017;Hattie, 2009;Leong, Carter, & Stephenson, 2015) Geake, 2008;Hyatt, Stephenson, & Carter, 2009;Muijs & Reynolds, 2011;Waterhouse, 2006), experimental studies (Neuman, Kaefer, Pinkham, & Strouse, 2014) Phase 2. For the purpose of the experiment, we addressed nine of the 18 misconceptions included in the 36-item questionnaire.…”

“…Half of them are backed by robust evidence, and the remaining 18 statements have null or very weak evidence and can be considered misconceptions (see Tables 1 and 2). These items were extracted from previous questionnaires (Dekker et al, 2012), meta-analyses (Ferrero, West, & Vadillo, 2017; Hattie, 2009; Leong, Carter, & Stephenson, 2015), unsystematic reviews (American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus and American Association of Certified Orthoptists (2009); Bangerter & Heath, 2004; De Bruyckere, Kirschner, & Hulshof, 2015; Geake, 2008; Hyatt, Stephenson, & Carter, 2009; Muijs & Reynolds, 2011; Waterhouse, 2006), experimental studies (Neuman, Kaefer, Pinkham, & Strouse, 2014), international classification and diagnostic manuals (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; World Health Organization, 2016), and national reports (National Reading Panel, 2000). For each question, a 5-point Likert scale was employed, labeled as (1) definitely false , (2) false , (3) do not know , (4) true , and (5) definitely true , indicating the degree of endorsement…”

Crossed Eye/Hand Laterality and Left‐Eyedness Predict a Positive 24‐Month Outcome in Alcohol‐Dependent Patients

“…Further studies on neurobiological mechanisms linking functional and structural brain asymmetry to alcohol dependence are needed. Finally, a recent meta‐analysis failed to show that crossed laterality is reliably associated with academic achievement or intelligence (Ferrero et al., ), also highlighting the need to replicate the findings of our study.…”

“…Ambidextrous and often right‐eyed individuals were excluded from the crossed eye/hand laterality analyses. For the different definitions of crossed laterality, see Ferrero and colleagues ().…”

Laterality in Children: Evidence for Task-Dependent Lateralization of Motor Functions

“…Crossed laterality is the phenomenon of individuals who do not exhibit hand, eye, foot or ear dominance consistently as right-or left-sided. Despite some initial findings, it has been affirmed that this phenomenon does not entail impairments in academic achievement or intelligence [61]. However, the consequences for motor functions have not been extensively studied.…”