Lateral Preference of Preschool and Primary School Children

Abstract

Cross-sectional development and consistency of four lateral preference behaviors (hand, foot, ear, eye) in 79 preschool and 131 primary school children were studied. Although predominant right-sidedness is manifested in the limbs and sensory organs, only handedness showed a significant increase over the age range studied (3 yr. to 9 yr., 11 mo.). Approximately 85% of children in preschool and 87% in primary school showed lateral consistency in the upper and lower extremities. The concordance between other sidedness behaviors reflected only chance associations in both samples. The results indicate that lateral preference behaviors in children are not unidimensional.