An hypothesis is suggested to explain the predominance of right-handedness. Salk has experimentally demonstrated that the sound of the mother's heartbeat is nurturant to the neonate, who has been prenatally conditioned to her heartbeat. He observed that the tendency to hold an infant on the left side was somewhat stronger in right-handed mothers than in left-handed ones. It is argued that this difference may confer an evolutionary advantage on the progeny of right-handed mothers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BakwinH.Lateral dominance: right- and left-handedness. J. Pediat., 1950, 36, 385–391.
DayhawL.De la preference laterale chez l'homme. Rev. Univer. Ottawa, 1951, 21, 4–53.
4.
DennisW.Early graphic evidence of dextrality in man. Percept. mot. Skills, 1958, 8, 147–149.
5.
EttlingerG.Lateral preferences in monkeys. Behav., 1962, 17, 275–287.
6.
GesellA.The individual in infancy. In MurchisonC. (Ed.), A handbook of child psychology. Worcester, Mass.: Clark Univer. Press, 1931. Pp. 158–203.
7.
RemyM.Haendigkeit und Koerperasymmetrie. Heilpaedagogische Werkblaetter, 1953, 22, 287–290.
8.
RifeD.Heredity and handedness. Sci. Mon., 1951, 73, 188–191.
9.
RifeD.Hand prints and handedness. Amer. J. hum. Genet., 1955, 7, 170–179.
10.
RookL.Cortical localization of handedness in the rat. Dissert. Abstr., 1962, 23, 724–725.
11.
SalkL.The importance of the heartbeat rhythm to human nature: theoretical, clinical, and experimental observations. In Proceedings of the Third World Congress of Psychiatry, 1961, 369. (Abstract)
