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Towards a conceptualization of hand preference
Author(s) -
Beukelaar L. J.,
Kroonenberg P. M.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1983.tb01841.x
Subject(s) - psychology , conceptualization , hand preference , preference , cognitive psychology , social psychology , developmental psychology , laterality , artificial intelligence , statistics , mathematics , computer science
In the present study, we have investigated the structure of hand preference by means of a questionnaire of 51 items, using the data from 977 persons. On the basis of the scores over a larger part of the items, the respondents were divided into three groups, right‐handers (523), left‐handers (412) and those impossible to classify (42). The items were subjected to a cluster analysis for the left‐handers and right‐handers separately. The results show a clear grouping of items for left‐handers, and a vaguely similar grouping for right‐handers. The clusters can be characterized by the muscle groups and joints which are involved in performing the tasks. Some attention is given to the question of whether hand preference can be better viewed as a natural dichotomy or a single continuum.