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Part of the book series: Critical Issues in Neuropsychology ((CINP))

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Abstract

Handedness is defined as the preferred hand used for a motor activity (manual preference) or the hand most skillful at performing a task (manual proficiency) (Fennell, 1986; Henninger, 1992). Approximately 90-95% of the population is right-handed (dextral) (Annett, 1970; Porac & Coren, 1978). The remainder are left-handed (sinistral) or mixed-handed. Lefthandedness decreases with age and has been reported to vary with culture (Fennel, 1986). An increased incidence of left-handedness has been reported in a variety of groups, including individuals with epilepsy (Bolin, 1953), alcoholism (Bakan, 1953), learning disabilitie s (Geschwind & Behan, 1982), and mental retardation (DeSilva & Satz, 1979; Hicks & Barton, 1975). It has also been reported among specific groups not suffering from disorders (Fennell, 1986).

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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Anderson, R.M. (1994). Handedness. In: Practitioner’s Guide to Clinical Neuropsychology. Critical Issues in Neuropsychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2480-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2480-9_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-44616-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2480-9

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