Mathematical ability and the right-shift theory of handedness

Whittington, Joyce; Richards, Phyllis

doi:10.1016/0028-3932(91)90077-l

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Greiffenstein & Baker, 2002), or groups of individuals with high scores in mathematics (e.g., Kovas et al, 2009;Whittington & Richards, 1991) only the data on individuals with MLD were included in the meta-analyses.…”

Section: Absence Of Comorbidity: Studies Including Participants Withmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A few studies did include participants with MLD and also provided information about their handedness, but the arithmetic data was not useable (e.g., Ashkenazi et al, 2012;Huber, Nuerk, Reips, & Soltanlou, 2017;Mazzocco & Thompson, 2005;Rosenberg, 1989;Shalev, Manor, & Gross-Tsur, 1997;Whittington & Richards, 1991). In addition, case studies were not included (e.g., DeVisscher & Noël, 2013;Hsieh et al,2017;Iuculano & Cohen Kadosh, 2014;Martins et al,1999;von Aster, 2000).…”

Section: No Selection Of Participants On the Basis Of Their Handednesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature

Παπαδάτου-Παστού¹,

Panagiotidou²,

Abbondanza³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Objective: Increased rates of atypical handedness are observed in groups of neurotypical individuals who are low-performing in mathematical tasks as well as in individuals with special educational needs, such as dyslexia and autism. This is the first series of studies and meta-analyses to investigate whether elevated levels of atypical handedness are also to be found in individuals with Mathematical Learning Difficulties (MLD). Method: We report three new studies (N = 134; N = 1,899; N = 149) and two sets of meta-analyses (22 studies; N = 3,649) on the handedness rates of MLD and Typically Achieving (TA) individuals.Results: No evidence of a difference in atypical handedness was found when the direction of hand preference was used as the handedness measure, with the exception of weak evidence when writing hand was used as the handedness criterion. When combining data meta-analytically no hand preference differences between the MLD and TA were detected.Conclusions: There is very limited evidence for elevated levels of atypical hand preference in MLD. We suggest that: (i) potential handedness effects are subtle and require larger samples, (ii) direction of hand preference is not a sensitive enough measure of handedness, or that (iii) increased rates of atypical hand preference are related specifically to conditions that present with language difficulties, as handedness is a behavioral index for language lateralization, and not to conditions requiring special educational needs at large. Future studies need to investigate the possible relationship of hand skill and of degree of hand preference with MLD.

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Section: Absence Of Comorbidity: Studies Including Participants Withmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: No Selection Of Participants On the Basis Of Their Handednesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature

Παπαδάτου-Παστού¹,

Panagiotidou²,

Abbondanza³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Rubinsten and Henik (2006) used both a group of participants with dyscalculia and a group with dyslexia in which case only the data of the former group were used. Similarly, when studies included groups of individuals with comorbidity or other disorders (e.g., reading deficiency or dual deficiency; Greiffenstein & Baker, 2002), or groups of individuals with high scores in mathematics (e.g., Kovas et al, 2009;Whittington & Richards, 1991) only the data on individuals with MLD were included in the meta-analyses.…”

Section: Study Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A few studies did include participants with MLD and also provided information about their handedness, but the arithmetic data were not useable (e.g., Ashkenazi et al, 2012;Ayyildiz et al, 2019;Cohen, Gliksman, & Henik, 2019;Huber, Nuerk, Reips, & Soltanlou, 2017;Mazzocco & Thompson, 2005;Rosenberg, 1989;Salvador et al, 2019;Shalev, Manor, & Gross-Tsur, 1997;Whittington & Richards, 1991). In addition, case studies were not included (e.g., DeVisscher & Noël, 2013;Hsieh et al,2017;Iuculano & Cohen Kadosh, 2014;Martins et al,1999;von Aster, 2000).…”

Section: Study Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature

et al. 2021

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Increased rates of atypical handedness are observed in neurotypical individuals who are low-performing in mathematical tasks as well as in individuals with special educational needs, such as dyslexia. This is the first investigation of handedness in individuals with Mathematical Learning Difficulties (MLD). We report three new studies (N = 134; N = 1,893; N = 153) and two sets of meta-analyses (22 studies; N = 3,667). No difference in atypical hand preference between MLD and Typically Achieving (TA) individuals was found when handedness was assessed with selfreport questionnaires, but weak evidence of a difference was found when writing hand was the handedness criterion in Study 1 (p = .049). Similarly, when combining data meta-analytically, no hand preference differences were detected. We suggest that: (i) potential handedness effects require larger samples, (ii) direction of hand preference is not a sensitive enough measure of handedness in this context, or that (iii) increased rates of atypical hand preference are not associated with MLD. The latter scenario would suggest that handedness is specifically linked to language-related conditions rather than conditions related to cognitive abilities at large. Future studies need to consider hand skill and degree of hand preference in MLD.

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“…Some empirical support for this prediction has been provided (De Agostini & Dellatolas, 2001;Halpern, Haviland, & Killian, 1998;Lamm & Epstein, 1999;Natsopoulos, Kiosseoglou, Xeromeritou, & Alevriadou, 1998). However, most studies with non-clinical populations have found no differences between the cognitive abilities of left-handed people and those of right-handed people (Farwell & Temkin, 1994;Hardyck, Petrinovich, & Goldman, 1976;Peters, 1991;Porac & Searleman, 2002;Van der Elst, Van Boxtel, Van Breukelen, & Jolles, 2006a;Whittington & Richards, 1991), or even reported superior cognitive abilities in sinistrals as compared to dextrals (Benbow, 1988;Kopiez, Galley, & Lee, 2006). Thus, the empirical support for the prediction that left-handed people deviate from the cognitive norm is inconclusive and rather negative.…”

mentioning

confidence: 91%

Is left-handedness associated with a more pronounced age-related cognitive decline?

Elst

Boxtel

Jolles

2008

Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition

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Mathematical ability and the right-shift theory of handedness

Cited by 9 publications

References 7 publications

Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature

Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature

Hand preference and Mathematical Learning Difficulties: New data from Greece, the United Kingdom, and Germany and two meta-analyses of the literature

Is left-handedness associated with a more pronounced age-related cognitive decline?

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