WHAT IS HANDEDNESS?

ŤHandednessť is a vague term, and can mean many things to many people. Most people in our society define handedness as the hand you use for writing. Within the scientific community, the vagueness of this term has led to much debate. Researchers define handedness based on different theoretical assumptions. For instance, some define handedness as (a) the hand that performs faster or more precisely on manual tests, while others define it as (b) the hand that one prefers to use, regardless of performance. Some think that there are two types of handedness: (a) either left or right, or (b) either right or non-right, while others think there should be three categories (to include ambidexterity). Some think there are two different kinds of ambidexterity. Some think that handedness should not be lumped into 2 or 3 or 5 categories, but rather measured along a scale of a continuum. These are just examples of a few of the differing criteria for handedness! My work attempts to resolve some of these issues.

<http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/brain.html> (Accessed: 8.7.2005)