Patterns of Lateral Preference: Hand, Eye, Thumb and Clapping

Abstract

The incidences of four lateral preferences were studied in a sample of 143 college students (81 women and 62 men). These were handedness defined by writing, eye dominance using the Asher technique, the upper thumb when hands are clasped, and the upper hand when hands are clapped. A computer program was developed to obtain the incidence of all patterns of these lateral traits seen in the sample and to indicate which occurred beyond the chance level. The strongest paired lateral concurrence was between handedness and clapping (76.9% for both sexes combined). Greater coherence was found between right preferences than left ones.