出版社：Universidade Federal do Parana̧, Departamento de Psicologia
摘要：This study focused on the developmental patterns of hand and foot dominance, and associatedphenotypic asymmetries, such as mixed dominance and the correspondence between handedness andfootedness among young children. Research indicates that for certain lateral traits, left-handers differfrom right-handers: they are more mixed in their handedness and express an elevated rate of contralateralfoot dominance for ball kicking. We sought to ascertain at which age level the direction anddegree of handedness begins to stabilize; and whether footedness develops concurrently withhandedness, and among left-handers, at which age do mixed and consistent phenotypes appear. Therewere 120 children (60 dextrals and 60 sinistrals) between the ages of three and eight, all assessed on10 handedness and four footedness tasks. Results indicated that among both dextrals and sinistrals, thedirection and degree of handedness was basically established by the age of three; in both groupshandedness and footedness developed simultaneously at the same age, if not before. Among lefthanders,groups of mixed and consistent phenotypes emerged at age three, and their differentialfrequency remained uniform at ages five and seven. It was concluded that the pattern of neuromotordominance for primary manual tasks and for ball kicking was relatively invariante, probablylateralized prior to three-years of age.
