Marian Annett
Biographic Data
| ID | 2747730 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Marian Annett |
| GIVEN NAMES | Marian |
| FAMILY NAME | Annett |
| SIGNATURE | ANNETT M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Leicester |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 42 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1959 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Patterns of hand preference for pairs of actions and the classification of handedness
Pairs of actions such as write × throw and throw × racquet were examined for items of the Annett hand preference questionnaire (AHPQ). Right (R) and left (L) responses were described for frequencies of RR, RL, LR, and LL pairings (write × throw etc.) in a large representative combined sample with the aim of discovering the distribution over the population as a whole. The frequencies of RL pairings varied significantly over the different item pair…
Hand preference observed in large healthy samples: Classification, norms and interpretations of increased non-right-handedness by the right shift theory
Healthy children and undergraduates were observed for hand preference and measured for hand skill in representative samples collected over some years. Writing and throwing were observed for 2844 participants drawn from primary, secondary and higher levels of education. The 12 actions of a standard questionnaire were observed for 2388 secondary school children and undergraduates. These findings provide normative data for comparison with selected s…
Rejoinder to ‘Annett's theory’ by McManus, Shergill & Bryden (1993)
Criticisms of the right shift (RS) theory (Annett, 1972, 1985) by McManus, Shergill & Bryden (1993) are shown to be ill‐founded. The hypothesis of a genetic balanced polymorphism with heterozygote advantage (BP + HA) is not based on the misconceptions McManus et al. (1993) suppose, and the evidence for a BP + HA is more robust than they suggest. The RS theory continues to lead to new findings, some directly contrary to assumptions of McManus (198…
The disadvantages of dextrality for intelligence—corrected findings
An error was recently discovered in the marking template made by the author to facilitate the scoring of the Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) test. This meant that the scores of children reported by Annett & Manning (1989) must be checked and revised where necessary. This paper reports the corrected findings for all analyses involving the CPM test in the Annett & Manning paper. The findings are similar to those previously described and several…
Spatial ability in subgroups of left‐and right‐handers
Two tests of spatial ability, mental paper folding given to 459 14–15‐year‐olds representative of the secondary school population, and recall of the Rey figure given to 428 undergraduates, found significant relationships between ability and hand preference when preferences were classified in subgroups of left‐ and right‐handers (Annett, 1970 a ). In 14–15‐year‐olds and in female undergraduates there was a W‐shaped relation between hand preference…
The disadvantages of dextrality for intelligence
The right shift (RS) theory of handedness suggests that the human bias to dextrality has costs as well as benefits. Samples of children from six primary schools were individually tested for hand preference, hand skill and Raven's Matrices. Scores on standardized educational tests recently given by teachers were available for three schools. When children were stratified for ability, the distributions of hand preference and of right minus left (R-L…
Which theory fails? A reply to McManus
The claim that the right shift (RS) theory fails is examined and rejected on several grounds. First, it is uncertain that the symmetric bimodal (SB) theory can generate predictions that are clearly distinct from those of the RS theory. Second, the interpretation of the empirical data depends on an analysis of the skills required for the task and of the samples tested; the latter were not drawn from the general population. Third, the aim of seekin…
Hand preference and skill in 115 children of two left‐handed parents
A second sample of children of L × L parents resembled a first sample (Annett, 1974) in the distribution of hand preferences and of hand skill. The mean difference between the hands in skill (L—R) was slightly but not significantly biased in favour of the right hand and 31 per cent were sinistral writers. Three tests were made on the combined samples of the hypotheses, derived from the right shift (RS) theory of handedness (Annett, 1972), that th…
Right- and left-hand skill II: Estimating the parameters of the distribution of L-R differences in males and females
The distribution of differences between the hands (L-R) in skill, as measured by a peg-moving task, was examined for several samples in which volunteer bias was absent or minimal. After comparing the main samples for hand preference and L-R times, they were combined to give 617 males and 863 females, aged 12-63 years. There was also a smaller sample of 122 males and 156 females, aged 6-15 years.The L-R distributions were negatively skewed and lep…
Right- and left-hand skill I: Effects of age, sex and hand preference showing superior skill in left-handers
Hand preference and hand skill were examined in relation to sex and age from 3 1/2 to 50+ years. The data were drawn from several samples which avoided volunteer bias, either by selecting children according to birth-date or by taking complete class groups. The distribution of hand preference and of asymmetry of skill gave no evidence of systematic changes with age. Younger children were more variable and showed larger absolute differences in favo…
Individual differences in right and left reaction time
Experiments designed to check the absence of effects for hands and handedness in simple and two‐choice reaction time found unexpected individual differences related to stimulus laterality. The majority of subjects responded faster to the stimulus on the left and a substantial minority responded faster to the stimulus on the right in any choice pair. The right index finger was slower than the left index or the middle fingers. Choices tended to be …
Handedness and the cerebral representation of speech
Hand preferences vary not discretely but continuously and the continuum of preference is closely and reliably linked with a continuous roughly Normal distribution of differences between the hands in skill. Questions about handedness can be usefully formulated in terms of the distribution of differences in skill and in terms of the theshold or criterion which divided those likely to be classified as right handers from those likely to be classified…
A Coordination of Hand Preference and Skill Replicated
Annett (1970 a ) described 283 subjects classified for hand preference and measured for the movement time of each hand on a peg moving task. A new sample of 804 subjects has been examined and classified as before. The mean differences between hands for each preference group are very similar in both samples. Hand preference can be regarded as anchored to an objective measure of manual skill. Both preference and skill are continuously distributed v…
Handedness in the Children of Two Left-handed Parents
Measures of hand speed in 45 children having two sinistral parents showed an equal division between children faster with the right hand and children faster with the left hand. The mean difference was very close to zero and the standard deviation was not less than that of unselected samples. These observations are compatible with the theory that the factor usually biasing handedness toward dextrality is absent in these children and that their late…
Laterality and the Growth of Intellectual Abilities
A random sample of right-handed children and a population sample of left-handed children, including over 100 subjects in each group, were assessed for vocabulary, drawing, maze tracing and for laterality of hand, eye and foot. Reading quotients were available for 145 children. The data were examined in two ways. The first compared the abilities of laterality groups over the total sample and found no significant differences. The second assessed th…
The Distribution of Manual Asymmetry
Four different descriptions of lateral asymmetry are reviewed and their probable interrelations examined. Two main features are distinguished: first, a normal distribution of relative efficiency of the two sides which probably applies to all species subject to lateral differences; second, a factor specific to humans which induces a shift of the normal distribution toward dextrality. A brief discussion of the origins of asymmetry leads to the conc…
The Growth of Manual Preference and Speed
Hand preference, speed of movement of each hand and vocabulary were examined in a random sample of children aged 3 1/2-15 years. The distributions of preference and relative manual speed were found unchanged during growth. Sex differences in preference and skill indicated that females are more asymmetrical to the right than males. Right-, mixed and left-handers were found in binomial proportions in both sexes. A linear relation between degrees of…
A Classification of Hand Preference by Association Analysis
An association analysis was made of the responses of young adults to a hand-preference questionnaire. Many patterns of preference were distinguished and there were no marked differences between adjacent classes. These findings are believed to demonstrate that hand preference is distributed continuously and not discretely. When it is necessary to classify handedness, the preference continuum can be divided at several levels of discrimination. A se…
The Classification of Instances of Four Common Class Concepts by Children and Adults
Dispositional views of conceptual thinking suggest the need for a descriptive study of the ways in which normal subjects of various ages classify familiar objects. The sortings and explanations of 303 children, aged 5-11 years, and forty-two adults, aged 18-73 years, in grouping pictures of common objects, were analysed. The explanations were classified for both form and content. Five methods of explanation were distinguished, only two of which a…
A Classification of Hand Preference by Association Analysis
An association analysis was made of the responses of young adults to a hand-preference questionnaire. Many patterns of preference were distinguished and there were no marked differences between adjacent classes. These findings are believed to demonstrate that hand preference is distributed continuously and not discretely. When it is necessary to classify handedness, the preference continuum can be divided at several levels of discrimination. A se…
The Distribution of Manual Asymmetry
Four different descriptions of lateral asymmetry are reviewed and their probable interrelations examined. Two main features are distinguished: first, a normal distribution of relative efficiency of the two sides which probably applies to all species subject to lateral differences; second, a factor specific to humans which induces a shift of the normal distribution toward dextrality. A brief discussion of the origins of asymmetry leads to the conc…
Right- and left-hand skill II: Estimating the parameters of the distribution of L-R differences in males and females
The distribution of differences between the hands (L-R) in skill, as measured by a peg-moving task, was examined for several samples in which volunteer bias was absent or minimal. After comparing the main samples for hand preference and L-R times, they were combined to give 617 males and 863 females, aged 12-63 years. There was also a smaller sample of 122 males and 156 females, aged 6-15 years.The L-R distributions were negatively skewed and lep…
The disadvantages of dextrality for intelligence
The right shift (RS) theory of handedness suggests that the human bias to dextrality has costs as well as benefits. Samples of children from six primary schools were individually tested for hand preference, hand skill and Raven's Matrices. Scores on standardized educational tests recently given by teachers were available for three schools. When children were stratified for ability, the distributions of hand preference and of right minus left (R-L…
The Growth of Manual Preference and Speed
Hand preference, speed of movement of each hand and vocabulary were examined in a random sample of children aged 3 1/2-15 years. The distributions of preference and relative manual speed were found unchanged during growth. Sex differences in preference and skill indicated that females are more asymmetrical to the right than males. Right-, mixed and left-handers were found in binomial proportions in both sexes. A linear relation between degrees of…
Right- and left-hand skill I: Effects of age, sex and hand preference showing superior skill in left-handers
Hand preference and hand skill were examined in relation to sex and age from 3 1/2 to 50+ years. The data were drawn from several samples which avoided volunteer bias, either by selecting children according to birth-date or by taking complete class groups. The distribution of hand preference and of asymmetry of skill gave no evidence of systematic changes with age. Younger children were more variable and showed larger absolute differences in favo…
The Classification of Instances of Four Common Class Concepts by Children and Adults
Dispositional views of conceptual thinking suggest the need for a descriptive study of the ways in which normal subjects of various ages classify familiar objects. The sortings and explanations of 303 children, aged 5-11 years, and forty-two adults, aged 18-73 years, in grouping pictures of common objects, were analysed. The explanations were classified for both form and content. Five methods of explanation were distinguished, only two of which a…
Hand preference observed in large healthy samples: Classification, norms and interpretations of increased non-right-handedness by the right shift theory
Healthy children and undergraduates were observed for hand preference and measured for hand skill in representative samples collected over some years. Writing and throwing were observed for 2844 participants drawn from primary, secondary and higher levels of education. The 12 actions of a standard questionnaire were observed for 2388 secondary school children and undergraduates. These findings provide normative data for comparison with selected s…
Spatial ability in subgroups of left‐and right‐handers
Two tests of spatial ability, mental paper folding given to 459 14–15‐year‐olds representative of the secondary school population, and recall of the Rey figure given to 428 undergraduates, found significant relationships between ability and hand preference when preferences were classified in subgroups of left‐ and right‐handers (Annett, 1970 a ). In 14–15‐year‐olds and in female undergraduates there was a W‐shaped relation between hand preference…
Handedness in the Children of Two Left-handed Parents
Measures of hand speed in 45 children having two sinistral parents showed an equal division between children faster with the right hand and children faster with the left hand. The mean difference was very close to zero and the standard deviation was not less than that of unselected samples. These observations are compatible with the theory that the factor usually biasing handedness toward dextrality is absent in these children and that their late…
Laterality and the Growth of Intellectual Abilities
A random sample of right-handed children and a population sample of left-handed children, including over 100 subjects in each group, were assessed for vocabulary, drawing, maze tracing and for laterality of hand, eye and foot. Reading quotients were available for 145 children. The data were examined in two ways. The first compared the abilities of laterality groups over the total sample and found no significant differences. The second assessed th…
The Classification of Instances of Four Common Class Concepts by Children and Adults
Dispositional views of conceptual thinking suggest the need for a descriptive study of the ways in which normal subjects of various ages classify familiar objects. The sortings and explanations of 303 children, aged 5-11 years, and forty-two adults, aged 18-73 years, in grouping pictures of common objects, were analysed. The explanations were classified for both form and content. Five methods of explanation were distinguished, only two of which a…
The Growth of Manual Preference and Speed
Hand preference, speed of movement of each hand and vocabulary were examined in a random sample of children aged 3 1/2-15 years. The distributions of preference and relative manual speed were found unchanged during growth. Sex differences in preference and skill indicated that females are more asymmetrical to the right than males. Right-, mixed and left-handers were found in binomial proportions in both sexes. A linear relation between degrees of…
A Classification of Hand Preference by Association Analysis
An association analysis was made of the responses of young adults to a hand-preference questionnaire. Many patterns of preference were distinguished and there were no marked differences between adjacent classes. These findings are believed to demonstrate that hand preference is distributed continuously and not discretely. When it is necessary to classify handedness, the preference continuum can be divided at several levels of discrimination. A se…
The Distribution of Manual Asymmetry
Four different descriptions of lateral asymmetry are reviewed and their probable interrelations examined. Two main features are distinguished: first, a normal distribution of relative efficiency of the two sides which probably applies to all species subject to lateral differences; second, a factor specific to humans which induces a shift of the normal distribution toward dextrality. A brief discussion of the origins of asymmetry leads to the conc…
Handedness in the Children of Two Left-handed Parents
Measures of hand speed in 45 children having two sinistral parents showed an equal division between children faster with the right hand and children faster with the left hand. The mean difference was very close to zero and the standard deviation was not less than that of unselected samples. These observations are compatible with the theory that the factor usually biasing handedness toward dextrality is absent in these children and that their late…
Laterality and the Growth of Intellectual Abilities
A random sample of right-handed children and a population sample of left-handed children, including over 100 subjects in each group, were assessed for vocabulary, drawing, maze tracing and for laterality of hand, eye and foot. Reading quotients were available for 145 children. The data were examined in two ways. The first compared the abilities of laterality groups over the total sample and found no significant differences. The second assessed th…
Handedness and the cerebral representation of speech
Hand preferences vary not discretely but continuously and the continuum of preference is closely and reliably linked with a continuous roughly Normal distribution of differences between the hands in skill. Questions about handedness can be usefully formulated in terms of the distribution of differences in skill and in terms of the theshold or criterion which divided those likely to be classified as right handers from those likely to be classified…
A Coordination of Hand Preference and Skill Replicated
Annett (1970 a ) described 283 subjects classified for hand preference and measured for the movement time of each hand on a peg moving task. A new sample of 804 subjects has been examined and classified as before. The mean differences between hands for each preference group are very similar in both samples. Hand preference can be regarded as anchored to an objective measure of manual skill. Both preference and skill are continuously distributed v…
Individual differences in right and left reaction time
Experiments designed to check the absence of effects for hands and handedness in simple and two‐choice reaction time found unexpected individual differences related to stimulus laterality. The majority of subjects responded faster to the stimulus on the left and a substantial minority responded faster to the stimulus on the right in any choice pair. The right index finger was slower than the left index or the middle fingers. Choices tended to be …
Hand preference and skill in 115 children of two left‐handed parents
A second sample of children of L × L parents resembled a first sample (Annett, 1974) in the distribution of hand preferences and of hand skill. The mean difference between the hands in skill (L—R) was slightly but not significantly biased in favour of the right hand and 31 per cent were sinistral writers. Three tests were made on the combined samples of the hypotheses, derived from the right shift (RS) theory of handedness (Annett, 1972), that th…
Right- and left-hand skill II: Estimating the parameters of the distribution of L-R differences in males and females
The distribution of differences between the hands (L-R) in skill, as measured by a peg-moving task, was examined for several samples in which volunteer bias was absent or minimal. After comparing the main samples for hand preference and L-R times, they were combined to give 617 males and 863 females, aged 12-63 years. There was also a smaller sample of 122 males and 156 females, aged 6-15 years.The L-R distributions were negatively skewed and lep…
Right- and left-hand skill I: Effects of age, sex and hand preference showing superior skill in left-handers
Hand preference and hand skill were examined in relation to sex and age from 3 1/2 to 50+ years. The data were drawn from several samples which avoided volunteer bias, either by selecting children according to birth-date or by taking complete class groups. The distribution of hand preference and of asymmetry of skill gave no evidence of systematic changes with age. Younger children were more variable and showed larger absolute differences in favo…
Which theory fails? A reply to McManus
The claim that the right shift (RS) theory fails is examined and rejected on several grounds. First, it is uncertain that the symmetric bimodal (SB) theory can generate predictions that are clearly distinct from those of the RS theory. Second, the interpretation of the empirical data depends on an analysis of the skills required for the task and of the samples tested; the latter were not drawn from the general population. Third, the aim of seekin…
The disadvantages of dextrality for intelligence
The right shift (RS) theory of handedness suggests that the human bias to dextrality has costs as well as benefits. Samples of children from six primary schools were individually tested for hand preference, hand skill and Raven's Matrices. Scores on standardized educational tests recently given by teachers were available for three schools. When children were stratified for ability, the distributions of hand preference and of right minus left (R-L…
Spatial ability in subgroups of left‐and right‐handers
Two tests of spatial ability, mental paper folding given to 459 14–15‐year‐olds representative of the secondary school population, and recall of the Rey figure given to 428 undergraduates, found significant relationships between ability and hand preference when preferences were classified in subgroups of left‐ and right‐handers (Annett, 1970 a ). In 14–15‐year‐olds and in female undergraduates there was a W‐shaped relation between hand preference…
Rejoinder to ‘Annett's theory’ by McManus, Shergill & Bryden (1993)
Criticisms of the right shift (RS) theory (Annett, 1972, 1985) by McManus, Shergill & Bryden (1993) are shown to be ill‐founded. The hypothesis of a genetic balanced polymorphism with heterozygote advantage (BP + HA) is not based on the misconceptions McManus et al. (1993) suppose, and the evidence for a BP + HA is more robust than they suggest. The RS theory continues to lead to new findings, some directly contrary to assumptions of McManus (198…
The disadvantages of dextrality for intelligence—corrected findings
An error was recently discovered in the marking template made by the author to facilitate the scoring of the Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) test. This meant that the scores of children reported by Annett & Manning (1989) must be checked and revised where necessary. This paper reports the corrected findings for all analyses involving the CPM test in the Annett & Manning paper. The findings are similar to those previously described and several…
Hand preference observed in large healthy samples: Classification, norms and interpretations of increased non-right-handedness by the right shift theory
Healthy children and undergraduates were observed for hand preference and measured for hand skill in representative samples collected over some years. Writing and throwing were observed for 2844 participants drawn from primary, secondary and higher levels of education. The 12 actions of a standard questionnaire were observed for 2388 secondary school children and undergraduates. These findings provide normative data for comparison with selected s…
Patterns of hand preference for pairs of actions and the classification of handedness
Pairs of actions such as write × throw and throw × racquet were examined for items of the Annett hand preference questionnaire (AHPQ). Right (R) and left (L) responses were described for frequencies of RR, RL, LR, and LL pairings (write × throw etc.) in a large representative combined sample with the aim of discovering the distribution over the population as a whole. The frequencies of RL pairings varied significantly over the different item pair…
Psychology (18 works) · Developmental psychology (15 works) · Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience (15 works) · Laterality (13 works) · Hand preference (12 works) · Preference (11 works) · Statistics (11 works) · Cognitive psychology (10 works) · Mathematics (8 works) · Left handed (6 works)