Lateral Preference and Verbal Skills: A Survey in School Settings

Abstract

The relation among hand, foot and eye lateral preference indices and certain verbal ability tests was studied in a group of 497 elementary school children. According to the performance on the verbal ability tests, the original sample was divided into a Lower and an Upper Group, and percentages of left preferences, consistent right and left preferences, crossed hand-foot, hand-eye, foot-eye preferences and congruent preferences were compared. The only comparison that proved to be significant was the evidence of a lower left preference percentage in reading speed in the Upper Group as compared to the Lower Group. A similar series of comparisons between a subgroup (N = 14) of children with serious reading problems and the group as a whole, did not lead to significant results. We therefore conclude that at least for subjects regularly attending school, there is no relation among lateral preference and the abovementioned verbal skills.

Key Words:

• handedness
• footedness
• eyedness
• reading problems
• children
• laterality performance test