Webliography
Tests & Questionnaires | Studies | Hemisphere Dominance | Lefties Speak

Here is my webliography (no, I didn't say webLOG), the annotated links dealing with left-handedness. There are many personal and informational left-handed websites out there, and they have a lot of repetition and overlap among them. I think that many of the links below are some of the best and most unique.

First, the
Tests and questionnaires:

  • The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory is a test developed at Edinburgh University by R. C. Oldfield. The degree of a subject's left- or right-handedness can be found by using the results to compute a "laterality quotient", which shows a range from complete right-handedness, through ambidexterity, to complete left-handedness. Here you can take a short form of the inventory online, and have your result computed for you.
  • M.K. Holder, 1992 M.Phil. Abstract, "Hand Preference Questionnaires: One Gets What One Asks For" A brief look, via thesis abstract, at the potential difficulties in determining hand preference. Dr. Holder also had her own hand preference questionnaire online: it was for research purposes, and she is now compiling results from five years of submissions. You can still read about this questionnaire in an interim report, and complete a short survey at the same time.
  • Left-handedness: Tests. A sub-page of a left-hander's website, this page shows several tests taken from "The Left-Hander Syndrome" by Stanley Coren. These include tests for preferred hand, foot, eye and ear, plus a comparison table of statistics.
  • Anything Left-Handed, a store in London, has a website with (among many other things) a survey for lefties, and a page with three tests of sorts.
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Handedness studies and information:
  • Right Brain May Control Writing in Some Lefties describes a study by scientists at the University of California, Davis, and Dartmouth College in Nov. 1996. Through examination and testing of a split-brain patient, researchers found that, while language is instinctive, and reading and writing invented, the process of writing is independent and may not be linked with the how the spoken word is processed. An illustration of the experiment is also available.
  • Theories About Handedness Causation Part of Lorin's Left-handedness Site, which also has a well-documented reference section. Discusses (and pokes holes in) various theories, be they environmental, genetic, developmental, or evolutionary.
    [Note: as of May 1, 2004, Lorin's site is temporarily down - keep checking!]
  • Creation of the Sinister: Biological Contributions to Left-handedness by Monica Watkins, from: The Harvard Brain, 1995, Harvard Undergraduate Society for Neuroscience. Ms. Watkins's paper covers definitions of left-handedness, as well as discussions on the validity of theGeschwind-Behan-Galaburda (GBG) Theory of Left-Handedness, which is based on a biological and chemical (hormonal) influence. She covers several aspects of the GBG theory, including left-handedness links with developmental disorders, immunity, and more. I advise reading it through, especially the last paragraph.
  • Unfortunately, "Recruitment for Left-handed People," a page describing geneticist Amar J. S. Klar's study for a "handedness gene" (which he calls RGHT), is no longer available. But, if you have RealPlayer you can listen to him discussing this topic (along with an interview with an editor of the book "Lefty: A handbook for left-handed Kids") at the archived Lefties: The Science of Handedness on the 8/8/97 NPR "Talk of the Nation: Science Friday" program (go to the second half of hour two).
  • Information from an Australian television program, "the Sinister Hand," is available online. There is a script of the show, and two pages as a web feature, which contains some interesting discussion on why and when lefties came about and touches on many other aspects of handedness as well.
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  • William H. Calvin, Ph.D., is a theoretical neurobiologist, and Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. He describes his essay, The Throwing Madonna (Chapter 1) , as "a parody (involving maternal heartbeat sounds!) on the typically-male theories of handedness."
  • Dr. M. K. Holder, has a great website devoted to her study of handedness - much more than indicated here. These next few links come from that site, or interviews with Dr. Holder:
    • gauche! Resource page for "right-handed parents, teachers, employers, design engineers, students, as well as left-handers and ambidextrals of all ages," with the hope of more understanding of the left-handed perspective.
    • Scientific American "Ask the Experts" answers by Dr. M. K. Holder:

    "The Handedness Research Institute was established in 2001 to advance the scientific understanding of handedness (left-handed, right-handed, and ambidextral manual preferences) and to help alleviate the social and educational discrimination of left-handers worldwide through research and education.

    The purpose of the Handedness Research Institute is to contribute to both the scholarly and the social understanding of the ancient human condition of majority right-handers co-existing with left-handed and ambidextrous minorities."

    Dr. M. K. Holder (rapidly becoming my hero!) is on the Board of Directors, and the site has a lot of interesting information already (a great page for aids to scholarly research, applicable to those of either handedness; how to teach left-handers to write; the problems of right-hand oriented school desks, and more). It will also include checklists, online surveys, tests, games, and educational information in the future.
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Hemisphere Dominance

These are a couple of links that are worth reading to dispel the right brain/left brain dominance-equals-personality myth.

  • An article originally published in the British magazine New Scientist, is online:
    Right Brain' or 'Left Brain' - Myth Or Reality? . It's a report on recent scientific research dealing with how the brain's hemispheres complement each other, rather than perform as opposites - both hemispheres contribute to any given function.
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Lefties speaking for themselves:
  • Alt.lefthanders is a newsgroup where left-handers can ask questions (and sometimes find answers), discuss and debate whatever is on their minds. There are always a lot of characters on newsgroups, but poster "Hagrinas Mivali" is usually a thoughtful contributor there. The group's FAQ is good for answering common questions people usually ask about left-handedness.
  • The Left-Handed Liberation Society (formerly the Left-Handed Liberation Front!) looks to be a grass-roots effort to motivate lefties to join together.
  • Anything Lefthanded, mentioned earlier, is a store in London providing products for left-handers. It claims to be the first such store, established in 1968. Their site offers products for sale, but also has pages for news, information, quizzes, and more for both children and adult left-handers. The company also says it started the annual International Left-handers Day (Aug. 13) in 1992, and features their own "Left-handers Club." Although it's a commercial business site, it is probably worth a visit to see all the different products available for lefties, and why such products are needed.
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