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A survey of manual preference, skill and strength in undergraduates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

John B Moynihan  and
Caomhghin S Breathnach
Caomhghin S Breathnach
Affiliation:
Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University College Dublin, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland
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Abstract

Objective: To examine hand preference, hand skill and hand strength in university undergraduates in order to determine the most reliable index of handedness.

Method: The Edinburgh Inventory, a group test of handedness by marking dots in circles, and a standard dynamometer were used with 248 (148 female, 100 male) subjects.

Results: No statistically significant correlations were found between hand skill and strength, or between hand preference and strength. A significant correlation between skill and preference was found in the male right-handed group of 93 students.

Conclusion: It is not possible to demonstrate whether preference or skill is the better index of handedness; a standardised method for assessment of hemispheric dominance for handedness is required; in the meantime the criterion used in a specific study should be explicitly stated in any citation of that study.

Keywords

HandednessHand preferenceHand skillHand strength
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , December 1995 , pp. 127 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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