General Motor Proficiency and Handedness in Children

Abstract

Abstract Recent investigations suggest that children who exhibit consistent hand-preference behavior are better coordinated than those who lack this characteristic. The current investigation tested this assumption with a trichotomous hand-preference grouping (right, mixed [inconsistent], left) of 96 children. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency was used. Results indicate that for total performance, right-handers significantly out-performed the other two groups, which were not significantly different from one another. Fine- and gross-motor composite analyses suggest that left-handers are at a greater disadvantage than their mixed-handed peers, compared with right-handers. Thus, in the context of general motor proficiency, consistent right-handers seem to differ from their inconsistent (mixed) and left-handed counterparts. These findings may be explained, in part, by maturational differences that provide an advantage to those with left-hemispheric dominance.