Skill development and handedness

用一只手（通常是右手）完成大多数任务是一个有趣的人类特征。人们不仅喜欢用一只手而不是另一只手，而且他们通常用这只手更快更准确地执行任务。手部偏好的一个值得注意的方面是，某些任务往往比其他任务引起更强的偏好。例如，个体对他们用来写字的手有强烈的偏好，但对他们用来打开电灯开关的手表现出较弱的偏好。同样地，与非偏好手相比，偏好手的表现能力对于某些任务来说是上级的。研究人员认为，这种横向不对称似乎与任务有关的原因是，一项任务涉及的技能越多，偏好就越强，一个人表现出的偏好手优势就越大。然而，什么是熟练的任务还不清楚。因此，目前的研究建议的目的是建立是否熟练的运动结构可能是手动偏好和性能的一个潜在的决定因素，以及如何构建的技能可能与其他左半球的功能。更具体地说，研究将a）继续确定包含技能并影响手偏好程度和偏好手优势强度的特征; B）检查手偏好和表现的发展过程，特别是关于技能的已识别方面如何跨年龄发展; c）确定在技能的操纵下，左撇子个体是否表现出相同的偏好和表现模式;以及d）探索这些被识别的技能要素与其他横向不对称（如语言侧化）的关系。由于大量的争议仍然围绕着手的偏好和偏好的优势的结构的问题，这些行为的决定因素的更仔细的检查将提供深入了解两个半球的神经特化。这项工作将最终有助于一个理论模型，既解释利手和技能获得之间的关系。

The performance of most tasks with one hand, typically the right, is an intriguing human characteristic. Not only do people prefer to use one hand rather than the other, but they usually perform tasks faster and more accurately with this hand. One notable aspect of hand preference is that certain tasks tend to elicit stronger preferences than other tasks. For example, individuals have strong preferences for the hand they use to write, but show weaker preferences, if any, for the hand they use to turn on a light switch. Likewise, the performance abilities of the preferred hand are superior for certain tasks as compared to the non-preferred hand. Researchers have argued that the reason such lateral asymmetries appear to be task dependent is that the more skill involved in a task the stronger the preference and the greater the preferred-hand advantage a person will demonstrate. However, what constitutes a skilled task is unclear. Therefore, the purpose of the current research proposal is to establish whether the construct of skilled movement may be an underlying determinant of manual preference and performance, and how the construct of skill may relate to other left hemisphere functions. More specifically, the research will a) continue to determine the features that encompass skill and influence the degree of hand preference and the strength of the preferred-hand advantage; b) examine the developmental course of hand preference and performance, particularly with respect to how the identified aspects of skill develop across age; c) determine whether left handed individuals show the same patterns of preference and performance, under manipulations of skill; and d) explore the relation of these identified elements of skill to other lateral asymmetries such as language lateralization. As a great deal of controversy still surrounds the issue of the structure of hand preference and the preferred-hand advantage, closer examination of the determinants of these behaviours will provide insight into the neural specialization of the two hemispheres. This work will ultimately contribute to a theoretical model that will both explain the relationship between handedness and skill acquisition.