The purpose of the study was to replicate findings of an earlier study of fourth grade boys manifesting mixed handedness with a sample. Among 32 mixed-handed boys in Grades 6 to 8, the right-handed writer, left-handed thrower group obtained low spelling scores (Normal Curve Equivalent Scores) on the California Achievement Test significantly more frequently than the left-handed writer, right-handed thrower group. These findings are consistent with data for Grade 4 boys in the earlier study. Findings strengthen the hypotheses that mixed handedness is not a unitary neuropsychological entity and that boys who write with the right hand and throw with the left hand might be at risk for certain academic deficits.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AnnettM. (1970) Handedness, cerebral dominance and the growth of intelligence. In BakkerD. J.SatzP. (Eds.), Neuropsychology of left-handedness. Rotterdam: Univer. Press. Pp. 61–79.
2.
AnnettM. (2004) Hand preference observed in large healthy samples: Classification norms and interpretations of increased non-right handedness by the right shift theory. British Journal of Psychology, 95, 339–353.
3.
AnnettM.MoranP. (2006) Schizotypy is increased in mixed-handers, especially right-handed writers who use the left for primary actions. Schizophrenia Research, 81, 239–246.
4.
BatchelorE. S.KixmillerJ. S.DeanR. S. (1990) Neuropsychological aspects of reading and spelling performance in children with learning disabilities. Developmental Neuropsychology, 6, 183–192.
5.
BenbowC. P. (1986) Physiological correlates of extreme intellectual precocity. Neuropsychologia, 24, 719–725.
6.
CollinsonS. L.PhillipsT. J.JamesA. C.QuestedD. J.CrowT. J. (2004) Is lateral bias anomalous in early-onset schizophrenia? Selected comparisons with normal populations. Psychiatry Research, 125, 219–224.
7.
CorenS. (1995) Age and handedness: Patterns of change in the population and some differences become visible with increased statistical power. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49, 376–386.
8.
CrowT. J.CrowL. R.DoneD. J.LeaskS. (1998) Relative hand skill predicts academic ability: Global deficits at the point of hemispheric indecision. Neuropsychologia, 36, 1275–1282.
9.
DeanR. S.SchwartzN. H.SmithL. S. (1981) Lateral preference patterns as a discriminator of learning difficulties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 227–235.
10.
DuncanR. C.KnappR. G.MillerM. C.III, (1977) Introductory biostatistics for the health sciences. New York: Wiley.
11.
FeinD.WaterhouseL.LucciD.PenningtonB.HumesM. (1985) Handedness and cognitive functions in pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 15, 323–333.
12.
FoundasA. L.LeonardC. M.Hanna-PladdyB. (2002) Variability in the anatomy of the planum temporale and posterior ascending ramus: Do right- and left-handers differ?Brain and Language, 83, 403–424.
13.
GilbertA. N.WysockiC. J. (1992) Hand preference and age in the United States. Neuropsychology, 30, 601–608.
14.
GiotakosO. (2001) Narrow and broad definition or mixed-handedness in male psychiatric patients. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 93, 631–638.
15.
GloverV.O'ConnorT. G.HeronJ., & Golding, J./ALSPACC Study Team. (2004) Antenatal maternal anxiety is linked with atypical handedness in the child. Early Human Development, 79, 107–118.
16.
GuttelingB. M.de WeerthC.ButtelaarJ. K. (2007) Prenatal stress and mixed-handedness. Pediatric Research, 62, 586–590.
17.
HarrisA. J. (1957) Lateral dominance, directional confusion and reading disability. Journal of Psychology, 44, 283–294.
18.
HealeyJ. M.LiedermanJ.GeschwindN. (1986) Handedness is not a unidimensional trait. Cortex, 22, 33–53.
19.
KelsoW. M.NichollsM. E.WarneG. L.ZacharinM. (2000) Cerebral lateralization and cognitive functioning in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Neuropsychology, 14, 370–378.
20.
KhedrE. M.HamedE.SaidA.BasahiJ. (2002) Handedness and language cerebral lateralization. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 87, 469–473.
21.
LevanderM.SchallingD. (1988) Hand preference in a population of Swedish college students. Cortex, 24, 149–156.
22.
MandalK.PandeyG.Tulsi DasC.BrydenM. P. (1998) Handedness in mental retardation. Laterality, 3, 221–225.
23.
NaidooS. (1972) Specific dyslexia—the research report of the ICAA Word Blind Centre for Dyslexic Children. New York: Wiley.
24.
ObelC.HedegaardM.HenriksenT. B.SecherN. J.OlsenJ. (2003) Psychological factors in pregnancy and mixed-handedness in the offspring. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 8, 557–561.
25.
O'CallaghanM. J.BurnY. R.MohayH. A.RogersY.TudehopeD. I. (1993) Handedness in extremely low birth weight infants: Aetiology and relationship to intellectual abilities, motor performance and behaviour at four and six years. Cortex, 29, 629–637.
26.
OrrK. G.CannonM.GilvarryC. M.JonesP. B.MurrayR. M. (1999) Schizophrenic patients and their first-degree relatives show an excess of mixed-handedness. Schizophrenia Research, 39, 167–176.
27.
PowlsA.BottingN.CookeR. W.MarlowN. (1996) Handedness in very-low birthweight (VLBW) children at 12 years of age: Relation to perinatal and outcome variables. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 38, 594–602.
28.
PretiA.LaiA.SerraM.ZurridaG. G. (2008) Mixed handedness prevails among children and adolescents with infantile asthma and diabetes. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Epub, January 22.
29.
RoweD.RudkinA.CrawfordL. (2000) Cerebral dominance and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in adults with intellectual disability. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities Research, 44, 638–643.
30.
SaigalS.RosenbaumP.SzatmariP.HoultL. (1992) Non-right handedness among ELBW and term children at eight years in relation to cognitive function and school performance. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 34, 425–433.
31.
SalviaJ.YsseldykeJ. E. (1978) Assessment in special and remedial education. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
32.
SarmaP. S. B. (1989) Mixed-handedness and achievement test scores of grade school children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68, 839–846.
33.
SegalowitzS. J.BrownD. (1991) Mild head injury as a source of developmental disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 24, 551–559.
34.
ShaywitzS. E.ShaywitzB. A.McGrawK.GrollS. (1984) Current status of the neuromaturational examination as an index of learning disability. Journal of Pediatrics, 104, 819–825.
35.
SmirniP.ZappalaG. (1989) Manual behavior, lateralization of manual skills and cognitive performance of preschool children. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 68, 267–272.
36.
SmithL.HinesM. (2000) Language lateralization and handedness in women prenatally exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES). Psychoneuroendocrinology, 25, 497–512.
37.
SteenhuisR. E. (1999) The relation between hand preference and hand performance: What you get depends on what you measure. Laterality, 4, 3–26.
38.
UpadhyayN.MandalM. K.AsthanaA. K.SharmaH. O. (2004) Hand preference in patients with allergy, juvenile cancer, and schizophrenia. Laterality, 9, 325–337.
39.
WitelsonS. (1989) Hand and sex differences in the isthmus and genu of the human corpus callosum: A post mortem morphological study. Brain, 112, 799–835.
