The Type of Handedness and Correlation Analysis of Handedness Assessment Items on University Students in Korea / 체질인류학회지

ABSTRACT

The left handers are different from the right handers in brain development aspects and various perceptive or cognitive performance. There are known the types of handedness are under social and cultural influence. Moreover, the different races or countries show the different sensitivity to each item in assessment tool. The aim of the this study is to assess type of handedness and choose the best item of assessment tool for Korean. The subjects of this study were 1,063 persons. Data were collected by total 31 items including 20 items through reconstruction of the Oldfield Test, Annett Questionnaire and Croviz-Zener Questionnaire. The reliability of tool is Cronbach's alpha=0.948. The data were analyzed through frequency, reliability analysis, t-test, and Pearson's Correlation analysis by SPSS win 14.0. The 11.5% of total subjects was changed handedness through experience, 62.7% of these subjects changed from left handedness to right or mixed handedness, and 30.5% of these subjects changed handedness from sixth years old or more to below eighth years old. The mean of handedness score between parents and offspring revealed statistically significant difference (father and offspring t=-5.227, p<0.001, mother and offspring t=-4.515, p<0.001). The left handedness increased from the past ratio 4.8% (Kang 1994) to the present study 6.0% (64 persons) by handedness assessment tool. The mean of total items showed significant positive correlations with hammering a nail (r=0.892, p<0.001), gripping knife (r=0.871), using scissors (r=0.847), and writing exhibited the lowest correlation (r=0.563). These results demonstrate that left handers in Korea were increased than the results by previous researchers, and the best items for distinguishing the left handers from the right handers were the hand hammering a nail, gripping knife, using scissors, lighting a match, and throwing small ball.