The relationships between nonverbal intelligence and the strength of left-hand preference in left-handers to sex and familial sinistrality

Abstract

The relationship between the strength of left-handedness and spatial reasoning ability was studied in left-handed male and female subjects with and without familial sinistrality (FS). The degree of left-handedness was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. The spatial reasoning ability was measured by Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Test. It was found that there was a negative linear correlation between nonverbal IQ and the strength of left-handedness in females with and without FS, a quadratic relationship in male left-handers without FS and a positive linear correlation in male left-handers with FS. These results indicate that the brain may exhibit different patterns of cerebral organization in left-handers to sex and FS. It was concluded that the “crowding” hypothesis may apply only to a subgroup of left-handers, i.e., females with a greater bilaterality of cognitive functions than males.

Key Words:

• nonverbal intelligence
• left-handedness
• sex
• familial sinistrality