scholarly journals Hand Preference in Adults’ Referential Gestures during Storytelling: Testing for Effects of Bilingualism, Language Ability, Sex and Age

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1776
Author(s):  
Elena Nicoladis ◽  
Safi Shirazi
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Hand Preference ◽  
Language Ability ◽  
Hand Gesture ◽  
Language Lateralization ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
The Right

Previous studies have shown that gestures are mediated by the left hemisphere. The primary purpose of this study was to test whether most gestures are also asymmetrical, i.e., produced with the right hand. We also tested four predictors of the degree of right-hand gesture use: bilingualism, language ability, sex, and age. These factors have been related to differences in the degree of language lateralization. English monolinguals, French–English bilinguals, and French monolinguals watched a cartoon and told the story back. For the gestures they produced while speaking, we calculated the percentage produced with the right hand. As predicted, the majority of gestures were right-handed (60%). Bilingualism, language ability, and age were not significantly related to hand choice in either English or French. In English, males tended to produce more right-handed gestures than females. These results raise doubts as to whether hand preference in gestures reflects speech lateralization. We discuss possible alternative explanations for a right-hand preference.

Foot Performance of Right- and Left-Handers: A Question of Environmental Influence

1995 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 671-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Gabbard ◽  
Susan Hart
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Influence ◽  
Hand Preference ◽  
Adequate Explanation ◽  
Driving Experience ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Left Handed ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Right

Prior research has shown that right-handed adults perform better on a speed-tapping task with the right hand and right foot, while left-handers execute more rapidly with the left hand and right foot. Speculation is that environmental influence, most likely driving experience, may account for the right-foot bias. To examine this hypothesis further, 48 young right- and left-handed children were tested on a similar protocol. Analyses indicated no significant differences in foot performance within hand-preference groups. Since these findings do not complement reports for adults, factors such as experience or maturation might contribute to the difference. Were patterns similar, the effect of environmental influence would be assumed to be small. However, much more evidence is needed before an adequate explanation can be developed. The issue of possible environmental influence is discussed from various theoretical perspectives.

Asymmetrical Inhibitory Effects of the First Stimulus on Reaction Time to the Second Stimulus in Double-Stimulation Situations

1980 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hitoshi Honda
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Output Coupling ◽  
Input Output ◽  
Inhibitory Effects ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
The Right ◽  
Double Stimulation

Inhibitory effects of S1 on the RT to S2 in double (visual-visual) stimulation situations were examined using 10 right-handed subjects, especially from the viewpoint of hemispheric input/output coupling. It was shown that the RT of the left hemisphere (right hand) to S2 after the projection of S1 into the right hemisphere was slower than the RTs under other conditions. The results were interpreted as showing an asymmetrical interhemispheric interfering effect in situations of double stimulation.

Metaphor explanation attenuates the right-hand preference for depictive co-speech gestures that imitate actions

2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sotaro Kita ◽  
Olivier de Condappa ◽  
Christine Mohr
Keyword(s):  
Hand Preference ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
The Right

UNBIASING THE BRAIN: THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION UPON THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES

1983 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Meissner ◽  
Michael Pirot
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Transcendental Meditation ◽  
Hand Preference ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Clinical Method ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Brain

Twenty males with a strong right hand preference underwent 120 simple reaction time trials to a 500 hz auditory stimulus presented to right, left and both ears. Ten Transcendental Meditators served as their own controls in twenty minute meditation and relaxation conditions and were also compared to a ten Non-Meditator control group who relaxed only in two 20-minute conditions. The reaction time trials were administered after the conditions. When the ears were compared to each other a significant right-ear (left hemisphere) advantage (REA) occurred in all relaxation conditions of the Meditator and Non-Meditator control groups. However, no REA emerged after meditation conditions of the Meditator group. The Meditator group after meditation compared to their own baseline relaxation condition showed a significant suppression of reaction time latencies to stimulation delivered to the left hemisphere and a significant facilitation to stimulation delivered to the right hemisphere. The meaning of these findings suggest Transcendental Meditation is an attentional strategy that disrupts the usual biases of the brain which also has implications as a clinical method. A neuropsychological explanation of the results suggest a comprehensive theory of Transcendental Meditation.

Relationship between Manual Midline Crossing and Hand Preference

1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet M. Stilwell
Keyword(s):  
Hand Preference ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Developmental Trend ◽  
Weak Preference ◽  
Midline Crossing ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Integration Test ◽  
Contralateral Hand ◽  
The Right

The relationship between manual midline crossing and hand preference was studied in 200 2- to 6-year-old children. Performance patterns of right-, left-, and mixed-handed children were compared. Right- and left-handed children exhibited significantly greater frequency of preferred than nonpreferred hand use for total hand use and for contralateral hand responses. The right-handed group showed a developmental trend for contralateral hand responses, with age-related changes due to a progressive increase in frequency of contralateral right (preferred) hand responses. The mixed-handed group displayed a weak preference toward use of the right hand for total hand use and for contralateral hand responses. A general reduction in frequency of midline crossing cited within the mixed-handed group was due to reduced frequency of contralateral right-hand responses. The theoretical significance of the research findings and their implications for sensory integration test interpretation are discussed.

Dichaptic Scanning of Braille Letters by Skilled Blind Readers: Lateralization Effects

1996 ◽  
Vol 82 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1071-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Semenza ◽  
Marina Zoppello ◽  
Ornella Gidiuli ◽  
Francesca Borgo
Keyword(s):  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Spatial Code ◽  
Cerebral Lateralization ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Tactile Modality ◽  
The Right ◽  
Linguistic Material

Dichaptic scanning of Braille letters was studied in 14 skilled blind readers, using Posner's paradigm. A right-hand (left-hemisphere) advantage was found when letters could be matched on the basis of their names (Name Identity Condition), a genuinely linguistic task, while no effects of lateralization appeared when matching could be performed on the basis of perceptual identity (Perceptual Identity Condition) or on “Different” responses. This result provides information about the cerebral lateralization of Braille reading and casts doubts about the current claim that linguistic material, when presented in the tactile modality, is initially analysed in a spatial code by the right hemisphere.

Handedness Trends across Age Groups in a Japanese Sample of 2316

1995 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 979-994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syoichi Iwasaki ◽  
Takehito Kaiho ◽  
Ken Iseki
Keyword(s):  
Linear Trend ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Hand Preference ◽  
Single Factor ◽  
Entire Life ◽  
Left Handedness ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Japanese Sample ◽  
The Right ◽  
Linear Trends

Hand-preference data of 2316 Japanese were analyzed by age groups, sex, and familial sinistrality. Right-hand preference increased across age groups at least up to 30 years for men, while women showed relatively stable and stronger preference for right-hand use. Unlike some Western studies, no linear trends across age groups were found for both sexes. Declining cultural censorship against left-handedness would not be responsible for the trends, since there was no evidence indicating such a decline in Japan. Hypotheses of reduced longevity and life-long adaptation to the right-handed world are not satisfactory either, since both hypotheses assume a linear trend spanning the entire life span. Thus, it seems that a single-factor hypothesis which explains all the results by resorting to a single cause does not account for the complex results found in this and other studies.

scholarly journals Timucua Hand Use: Dispelling the Myth of Left-Hand Preference

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Aaron Broadwell
Keyword(s):  
Hand Preference ◽  
Universal Property ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Central Florida ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
The Right

At the time of Spanish contact, the Timucua were the original people of northern central Florida. Granberry (1996) claimed in a provocative article that Timucua constitutes an exception to the universal or near-universal property of preference for the right hand, and showed a preference for the left hand instead. This article critically examines Granberry's argument, and shows that there is no good linguistic evidence to support left-hand preference in Timucua

Role of Prenatal Position in Grasp-Reflex Asymmetry in Human Neonates

1994 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 287-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uner Tan
Keyword(s):  
Hand Preference ◽  
Full Term ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
The Right ◽  
Human Neonates ◽  
Right And Left Hands

Grasp-reflex strengths were quantitatively measured from the right and left hands of 70 full-term human neonates. The right-left grasp-reflex linearly correlated with grasp-reflex only of the right hand in neonates with a right-ear-facing-out prenatal position. In neonates with left-ear-facing-out prenatal position, this grasp-reflex linearly increased with the grasp-reflex of the right hand and linearly decreased with the grasp reflex of the left hand. It was suggested that grasp-reflex asymmetry in neonates may, at least partly, depend upon prenatal position, which may also influence the later developing hand preference in humans.

Editorial Note

1946 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-2
Keyword(s):  
Editorial Note ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Hand Column ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
Infant Speech ◽  
The Right

In the article “Infant Speech Sounds and Intelligence” by Orvis C. Irwin and Han Piao Chen, in the December 1945 issue of the Journal, the paragraph which begins at the bottom of the left hand column on page 295 should have been placed immediately below the first paragraph at the top of the right hand column on page 296. To the authors we express our sincere apologies.

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