Handedness and intelligence: Patterns of hand preference in gifted and nongifted children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine a putative association between patterns of handedness and intellectual ability in a population of 657 intellectually gifted and nongifted children, between the ages 8 and 14 years old. To probe whether distribution patterns of hand preference differed in this population, a modified version of the Dean Laterality Preference Schedule was administered. Results showed that, whereas more nongifted than gifted students distributed in the left‐ and mixed‐handedness categories, total mean handedness scores on the hand preference instrument did not differ in both populations. Implications of the findings for neuropsychology and education are considered.