IngentaConnect The distribution of hand preference is discrete: A taxometric exa...

Authors: Dragovic, Milan¹; Milenkovic, Sanja²; Hammond, Geoff³

Source: British Journal of Psychology, Volume 99, Number 4, November 2008 , pp. 445-459(15)

Publisher: British Psychological Society

Abstract:

The dominant genetic models of human handedness (Annett, 1985; McManus, 1985a) have contrasting views on its nature. Whereas Annett's model proposes that handedness is distributed continuously (following the distribution of performance asymmetries of the hands), McManus's model proposes that handedness is distributed dichotomously. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of the underlying distribution. The taxonomy of hand preference was analysed by two independent taxometric procedures, `mean-above-mean-below-a-cut' and `maximum-eigenvalue', separately in two geographically, demographically, and culturally distinct samples; one of Australian adults (N=787), and the other of Serbian high school students (N=1,224). The analyses revealed a latent categorical structure in both samples, with estimated mean base-rates of a right-handed taxon of 0.80 and 0.94 from the two analyses of the adult sample and of 0.79 and 0.93 from the two analyses of the high school sample. Subsequent analyses showed that the initial right-handed class could be subdivided into consistent and inconsistent right-handed subclasses in both samples. A supplementary analysis, including a measure of hand proficiency in a subset of the sample of Australian adults (N=596), also revealed a latent categorical structure, showing evidence for a categorical latent structure from a continuous measure of hand performance. We conclude that the distribution of hand preferences in humans is discrete and not continuous.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1348/000712608X304450

Affiliations: 1: Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, Graylands Hospital, Claremont, Western Australia, Australia 2: Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia 3: School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

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The distribution of hand preference is discrete: A taxometric examination