ABSTRACT

Because self-report hand preference measures are limited to investigating cognitive aspects of manual laterality, valid, easy-to-administer and economic behavioural methods are needed for capturing the motoric component of handedness. Therefore, this study introduces the Handedness Index Practical Task (HI₂₀) and tests it in a sample of 206 students (M_age = 23.79 years, SD_age = 3.01 years), half of whom were self-specified left-handers. After confirming good reliabilities at the subscale and total scale levels, k-means cluster analysis allowed an empirically based partitioning of test subjects into left- (n = 72), mixed- (n = 23) and right-handers (n = 111). To validate this categorization and the HI₂₀ index, data were compared with the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI), EHI-short, HI₂₂ and hand grip strength. The congruency between the HI₂₀ clusters and alternative categorizations ranged from 95.6% to 84.0%, while the clusters explained large portions of variance in grip strength differences. The HI₂₀ sub- and total scores showed strong correlations with other measures of lateral preference. Altogether, the freely available HI₂₀ emerges as a reliable and valid alternative for behavioural handedness assessment, whose power lies in explaining differential hand use patterns and enabling fine-grained examinations of handedness.

摘要

由于自我报告的手部偏好测量仅限于调查手动偏侧的认知方面，因此需要有效、易于管理和经济的行为方法来捕捉惯用手的运动成分。因此，本研究引入了惯用手指数实践任务（HI _{20 ）并在 206 名学生（} M_年龄 = 23.79 岁，SD_年龄= 3.01 岁）的样本中对其进行测试 ，其中一半是自我指定的左撇子。在确认子量表和总量表水平的良好可靠性后，k均值聚类分析允许根据经验将测试对象划分为 左撇子（n  = 72）、混合（n = 23）和右撇子（n  = 111)。为了验证这一分类和 HI ₂₀指数，将数据与爱丁堡惯用手量表 (EHI)、EHI-short、HI ₂₂和手握力进行了比较。HI ₂₀集群和替代分类之间的一致性范围从 95.6% 到 84.0%，而集群解释了握力差异的大部分差异。HI ₂₀分项和总分显示出与其他横向​​偏好测量的强相关性。总而言之，免费提供的 HI ₂₀成为行为惯用手评估的可靠且有效的替代品，其能力在于解释不同的手部使用模式并实现对惯用手的细粒度检查。