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Taylor MA, Coxe S, Nelson EL. Early object skill supports growth in role-differentiated bimanual manipulation in infants. Infant Behav Dev 2024; 74:101925. [PMID: 38286042 PMCID: PMC11194832 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2024.101925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 01/31/2024]
Abstract
The ability to coordinate the hands together to act on objects where each hand does something different is known as role-differentiated bimanual manipulation (RDBM). This study investigated two motor skills that may support the development of RDBM: infants' early object skill and their early sitting skill. To evaluate these potential predictors of RDBM growth, 90 infants were examined in a lab-based longitudinal design over a 9-month period. Latent growth modeling was used to estimate RDBM growth trajectories over 9 to 14 months from infants' object and sitting skills at 6 months, controlling for infant's sex, mother's education, and family income. Higher object skill, controlling for sitting skill, was related to a higher increase in RDBM over time. Sitting did not predict infants' change in RDBM over time, controlling for object skill. The ability to manage multiple objects may support collaborative hand use by providing infants with opportunities to practice actions that will be needed later for RDBM. By comparison, sitting may free the hands in an unspecified manner for manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan A Taylor
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, USA
| | - Stefany Coxe
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, USA
| | - Eliza L Nelson
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, USA.
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2
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van der Meer ALH. Handedness as a major determinant of lateral bias in human functional cradling. INFANCY 2024; 29:84-94. [PMID: 38100601 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Studies examining infant cradling have almost uniformly concluded with a general human left-side bias for cradling, indicating that people prefer to hold an infant to the left of their body. Explanations for the notion of the left-side cradling bias have traditionally been searched for in a variety of factors, for example, in terms of maternal heartbeat, genetic factors, in the form of an ear asymmetry where auditory information is perceived faster through the left ear, as a result of a right hemispheric functional specialization for perception of emotions and faces, and in identifying a motor bias of the infant, such as the tendency of newborn infants to lie with the face to the right when placed supine. Interestingly, handedness is generally considered an inadequate explanation for the lateralized cradling bias, despite it being an intuitively plausible one. In this brief review, I put forward the cradler's handedness as the most convincing and elegant determinant of the cradling bias. This explanation is consistent with a developmental cascades' framework where the cradling bias can be understood as the result of a multitude of factors across a range of levels and systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audrey L H van der Meer
- Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
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3
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Marcinowski EC, Nelson EL, Campbell JM, Michel GF. Early, concurrent, and consistent hand preferences predict stacking in toddlerhood. Dev Psychobiol 2023; 65:e22397. [PMID: 37338251 PMCID: PMC11182046 DOI: 10.1002/dev.22397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Stacking is a hallmark of fine motor skill development and requires skilled hand use. One mechanism for children to gain manual proficiency involves establishing a hand preference that creates practice differences between the hands as the preferred hand is used more often and in different ways than the other. Prior work found that stacking skill emerged earlier for infants with an identifiable hand preference. However, it is not known how hand preference relates to later toddler stacking performance. This study examined the effects of early hand preference (infant pattern), concurrent hand preference (toddler pattern), and consistent hand preference (infant to toddler pattern) on toddler stacking skills. Sixty-one toddlers, whose hand preferences as infants were known, were assessed for their toddler hand preference and their stacking skill across 7 monthly visits from 18 to 24 months of age. Using multilevel Poisson longitudinal analysis, children with hand preferences that were consistent across both infancy and toddlerhood were more successful at stacking, compared to those with inconsistent preferences across the infant and toddler periods. Thus, consistency of hand preferences during the first 2 years likely contributes toward individual differences in the development of fine motor skills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily C Marcinowski
- School of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
| | - Eliza L Nelson
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Julie M Campbell
- Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA
| | - George F Michel
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
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4
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Nelson EL. Developmental cascades as a framework for primate handedness. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:1063348. [PMID: 36419909 PMCID: PMC9676354 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1063348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
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5
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Richards G, Tan DW, Whitehouse AJO, Chris McManus I, Beaton AA, Hickey M, Maybery MT, Licari MK, Lawson L. A longitudinal examination of perinatal testosterone, estradiol and vitamin D as predictors of handedness outcomes in childhood and adolescence. Laterality 2022; 27:547-580. [PMID: 35938410 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2022.2109656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The developmental origins of handedness remain elusive, though very early emergence suggests individual differences manifesting in utero could play an important role. Prenatal testosterone and Vitamin D exposure are considered, yet findings and interpretations remain equivocal. We examined n = 767 offspring from a population-based pregnancy cohort (The Raine Study) for whom early biological data and childhood/adolescent handedness data were available. We tested whether 18-week maternal circulatory Vitamin D (25[OH]D), and testosterone and estradiol from umbilical cord blood sampled at birth predicted variance in direction of hand preference (right/left), along with right- and left-hand speed, and the strength and direction of relative hand skill as measured by a finger-tapping task completed at 10 (Y10) and/or 16 (Y16) years. Although higher concentrations of Vitamin D predicted more leftward and less lateralized (regardless of direction) relative hand skill profiles, taken as a whole, statistically significant findings typically did not replicate across time-point (Y10/Y16) or sex (male/female) and were rarely detected across different (bivariate/multivariate) levels of analysis. Considering the number of statistical tests and generally inconsistent findings, our results suggest that perinatal testosterone and estradiol contribute minimally, if at all, to subsequent variance in handedness. Vitamin D, however, may be of interest in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gareth Richards
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Diana Weiting Tan
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - I Chris McManus
- Research Department of Clinical, Education and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Faculty of Brain Sciences, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK.,Research Department for Medical Education, University College London Medical School, School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, London, UK
| | - Alan A Beaton
- Department of Psychology, School of Human & Health Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.,Department of Psychology, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - Martha Hickey
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne and the Royal Women's Hospital, Victoria, Australia
| | - Murray T Maybery
- School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Melissa K Licari
- Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Lauren Lawson
- Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.,Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), Long Pocket, Brisbane, Australia
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6
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Díaz-Pereira MP, López-Araujo Y, Lorenzo-Martínez M. Examining Variations Between Everyday Life Handedness and Lateral Preferences for Sport-Specific Skills in Children. RESEARCH QUARTERLY FOR EXERCISE AND SPORT 2022:1-6. [PMID: 35353029 DOI: 10.1080/02701367.2021.1994121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to analyze both sport-specific lateral preferences and handedness for everyday life tasks among school-aged children. Method: A total of 533 children (254 males and 279 females) aged 6 to 15 years old were assessed. Children's handedness was determined according to the laterality score from Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI), while lateral preferences were assessed for 16 different sport-specific tasks. Results: The percentage of children with a left hand preference was lower for unilateral (10.5-14.3%) than for bilateral (19.5-31.7%) tasks. An increased prevalence of left-sided preference was also obtained for foot tasks (13.3-26.8%) and rotation along the vertical axis (28.5%). Similarly, hand preference for unilateral sport-specific tasks and EHI scores were largely correlated (r = 0.551-0.630), while these correlations were lower for bilateral hand tasks (r = 0.148-0.418), foot tasks (r = 0.201-0.386) and rotation preference (r = 0.129). Moreover, left-handed children evidenced less lateralized behavior for sport-specific tasks than right-handed children. Conclusions: The current study has shown that sport-specific lateral preferences and their correlations with handedness vary considerably depending on the task and individual characteristics in developmental ages. These findings emphasize the relevance of task-specific assessments of lateral preferences when looking at sports skills during childhood.
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Handedness Development: A Model for Investigating the Development of Hemispheric Specialization and Interhemispheric Coordination. Symmetry (Basel) 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/sym13060992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The author presents his perspective on the character of science, development, and handedness and relates these to his investigations of the early development of handedness. After presenting some ideas on what hemispheric specialization of function might mean for neural processing and how handedness should be assessed, the neuroscience of control of the arms/hands and interhemispheric communication and coordination are examined for how developmental processes can affect these mechanisms. The author’s work on the development of early handedness is reviewed and placed within a context of cascading events in which different forms of handedness emerge from earlier forms but not in a deterministic manner. This approach supports a continuous rather than categorical distribution of handedness and accounts for the predominance of right-handedness while maintaining a minority of left-handedness. Finally, the relation of the development of handedness to the development of several language and cognitive skills is examined.
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Fagard J, De Agostini M, Huet V, Granjon L, Heude B. Is Handedness at Five Associated with Prenatal Factors? INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:3529. [PMID: 33805348 PMCID: PMC8037573 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18073529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The goal of the study was to investigate some of the factors suspected to be related to children's handedness: presentation during the last weeks of gestation and at birth (cephalic or breech), side of presentation (right or left), number of weeks of gestation, season of birth, parents' handedness and sex. We analyzed the relationships between these factors and the child's handedness at five years. Children (n = 1897) from the EDEN cohort participated in the study, among which 1129 were tested for handedness at five. The father's handedness, but not the mother's, was significantly related to the child's hand preference. The percentage of left-handed children was significantly larger when the father was non-right-handed compared to right-handed, and tended to be larger among children in non-left-cephalic presentation compared to left-cephalic presentation. Girls, but not boys, were significantly less lateralized when they were born before 37 weeks of pregnancy than after. Finally, children born in winter or spring were slightly but significantly less lateralized than children born in summer or autumn. All six children who were not lateralized at 5 presented one or several of these factors. These results are discussed in light of the mixed model of handedness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline Fagard
- Université de Paris, INCC UMR 8002, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France; (V.H.); (L.G.)
| | - Maria De Agostini
- Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Statistics (CRESS), Université de Paris, INSERM, INRAE, F-75004 Paris, France; (M.D.A.); (B.H.)
| | - Viviane Huet
- Université de Paris, INCC UMR 8002, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France; (V.H.); (L.G.)
| | - Lionel Granjon
- Université de Paris, INCC UMR 8002, CNRS, F-75006 Paris, France; (V.H.); (L.G.)
| | - Barbara Heude
- Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Statistics (CRESS), Université de Paris, INSERM, INRAE, F-75004 Paris, France; (M.D.A.); (B.H.)
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Marcori AJ, Teixeira LA, Dascal JB, Okazaki VHA. Are the Predictions of the Dynamic Dominance Model of Laterality Applicable to Children? Dev Neuropsychol 2020; 45:496-505. [PMID: 33203247 DOI: 10.1080/87565641.2020.1849220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
According to the dynamic dominance model, the left cerebral hemisphere is specialized for the control of intersegmental dynamics and the right hemisphere for impedance control. Our aim was to test predictions from the dynamic dominance model in children by comparing performance between the right (preferred) and left hands in aiming. Three groups were compared: 4-7, 8-11, and 18-38 years old. Results showed higher movement linearity in the performance with the right hand in all age groups (P < .01), while initial directional error and endpoint accuracy were equivalent between hands. These results provided partial support for the dynamic dominance model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Jehan Marcori
- School of Physical Education and Sport, Human Motor Systems Laboratory, University of São Paulo , São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luis Augusto Teixeira
- School of Physical Education and Sport, Human Motor Systems Laboratory, University of São Paulo , São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Juliana Bayeux Dascal
- Center of Physical Education and Sport, Motor Neuroscience Research Group, Londrina State University , Londrina, Brazil
| | - Victor Hugo Alves Okazaki
- Center of Physical Education and Sport, Motor Neuroscience Research Group, Londrina State University , Londrina, Brazil
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Hand Preference in Rhinopithecus roxellana Infants: Is It Influenced by Familial Inheritance? Symmetry (Basel) 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/sym12111905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is a typical arboreal group-living Old-World primate and has been studied broadly in hand preference. However, infants have not been tested independently from other immature individuals to date. The purpose of the present study was to investigate hand preference in a spontaneously unimanual feeding task in nine infants at 12 months and the relationship of hand preference with their parents in R. roxellanae. Most infants (89%) showed individual-level hand preference. No correlation was found in the direction of hand preference between infant and its parents, and a significant negative correlation in the strength of hand preference was found between infants and their mothers (r = −0.715, p = 0.03). Moreover, there was no sex difference in the direction and strength of hand preference both in infants and adults (i.e., parents). Meanwhile, the strength of hand preference in adults was stronger than that in infants. This study is a first and preliminary exploration for the expression of hand preference in R. roxellanae infants and whether their hand preference was influenced by familial inheritance.
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van Heerwaarde AA, van der Kamp LT, van der Aa NE, de Vries LS, Groenendaal F, Jongmans MJ, Eijsermans RJC, Koopman-Esseboom C, van Haastert ILC, Benders MJNL, Dudink J. Non-right-handedness in children born extremely preterm: Relation to early neuroimaging and long-term neurodevelopment. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0235311. [PMID: 32628734 PMCID: PMC7337339 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 06/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective This study aimed to define the prevalence and predictors of non-right-handedness and its link to long-term neurodevelopmental outcome and early neuroimaging in a cohort of children born extremely preterm (<28 weeks gestation). Methods 179 children born extremely preterm admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of our tertiary centre from 2006–2013 were included in a prospective longitudinal cohort study. Collected data included perinatal data, demographic characteristics, neurodevelopmental outcome measured by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development at 2 years and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children at 5 years, and handedness measured at school age (4–8 years). Magnetic resonance imaging performed at term-equivalent age was used to study overt brain injury. Diffusion tensor imaging scans were analysed using tract-based spatial statistics to assess white matter microstructure in relation to handedness and neurodevelopmental outcome. Results The prevalence of non-right-handedness in our cohort was 22.9%, compared to 12% in the general population. Weaker fine motor skills at 2 years and paternal non-right-handedness were significantly associated with non-right-handedness. Both overt brain injury and fractional anisotropy of white matter structures on diffusion tensor images were not related to handedness. Fractional anisotropy measurements showed significant associations with neurodevelopmental outcome. Conclusions Our data show that non-right-handedness in children born extremely preterm occurs almost twice as frequently as in the general population. In the studied population, non-right-handedness is associated with weaker fine motor skills and paternal non-right-handedness, but not with overt brain injury or microstructural brain development on early magnetic resonance imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alise A. van Heerwaarde
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Laura T. van der Kamp
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Niek E. van der Aa
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Linda S. de Vries
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Floris Groenendaal
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Marian J. Jongmans
- Department of Paediatric Psychology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Rian J. C. Eijsermans
- Department of Paediatric Physical Therapy and Exercise Physiology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Corine Koopman-Esseboom
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Inge-Lot C. van Haastert
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Manon J. N. L. Benders
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen Dudink
- Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Nelson EL, Gonzalez SL. Measuring infant handedness reliably from reaching: A systematic review. Laterality 2020; 25:430-454. [PMID: 32063179 PMCID: PMC7306446 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2020.1726367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/30/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Researchers have utilized reaching paradigms to measure infant handedness for more than a century. However, methods vary widely. Recent research has identified that the number of trials used in assessment is critical with the recommendation that at least 15 trials are necessary to reliably classify infants into handedness categories via statistical cutoffs. As a first step towards establishing best practices for the field, we identified, categorized, and synthesized findings according to trial number from studies that utilized reaching to index handedness in infants across the first two years of life using PRISMA guidelines. Database searches were conducted in PsycINFO, PubMed, and Ovid MEDLINE®. All articles published through May 2018 were included. Additional records were identified through other sources. After removing duplicates, 1,116 records were screened using the online software program Abstrackr. Of these records, 125 full-text articles were further assessed for eligibility, and 87 articles were included in the qualitative synthesis. Results revealed that the majority of papers published since 1890 (70%) do not meet the 15-trial minimum criterion for statistically reliable measurement of infant handedness. Broad themes from articles meeting the measurement criterion and implications for future research are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliza L. Nelson
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Sandy L. Gonzalez
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
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Michel GF, Babik I, Nelson EL, Campbell JM, Marcinowski EC. Evolution and development of handedness: An Evo-Devo approach. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2018; 238:347-374. [PMID: 30097200 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Hand preference is a sensorimotor skill whose development both reflects and promotes the development of hemispheric lateralization for manual and cognitive functions. Extensive comparative, crosscultural, and paleoanthropological evidence demonstrates the prevalence of limb lateralized preferences across vertebrate species and the prevalence of right-handedness within hominid evolution. Many reviews of the evolution and development of human handedness have proposed adaptive explanations for its evolution. However, during the last 3 decades a new approach to understanding evolution (the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis-EES) provided a persuasive alternative to the conventional (Neo-Darwinian Synthetic Theory-ST) evolutionary and developmental accounts. EES combines modern evolutionary and developmental research (Evo-Devo) in ways that alter understanding of natural selection, adaptation, and the role of genes in development and evolution. These changes make obsolete all past accounts of the evolution and development of lateralization and handedness because EES/Evo-Devo requires new study designs. The developmental trajectories of any structural or functional trait must be specified so that it may be related to variations in the developmental trajectories of other traits. First, we describe how the EES/Evo-Devo differs from the conventional ST, particularly for understanding of how traits develop. Then, we apply Evo-Devo to the study of handedness development in infancy and its relation to the development of other cognitive functions. Finally, we argue that identifying the development of atypical traits would benefit from knowledge of the range of individual differences in typical developmental trajectories of hand-use preference and their relation to variations in the developmental trajectories of cognitive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- George F Michel
- Psychology Department, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, United States.
| | - Iryna Babik
- Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Eliza L Nelson
- Psychology Department, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Julie M Campbell
- Psychology Department, Illinois State University, Normal, IL, United States
| | - Emily C Marcinowski
- Department of Physical Therapy, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States
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Michel GF. How Might the Relation of the Development of Hand Preferences to the Development of Cognitive Functions be Examined During Infancy: A Sketch? Front Neurosci 2018; 11:739. [PMID: 29375287 PMCID: PMC5767331 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigations of the relation of the development of hand preferences to the development of other sensorimotor and cognitive abilities are plagued by confusing and contradictory results. In part, the confusion derives from the failure to create accurate, appropriate, and reliable descriptions of the development of hand preferences and the cognitive or sensorimotor ability of interest. This paper sketches an ideal longitudinal study (from birth through 5 years) with a large sample size that should provide reliable evidence for the understanding of the relation of hand preferences to cognitive development. Since hand preference differences would affect the way infants engage in manual actions with objects and these differences would likely affect how they come to comprehend object relations, differences in the development of cognition across handedness groups would be a good test of certain forms of embodiment theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- George F Michel
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, United States
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