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An international study of human handedness: The data

Abstract

Human handedness has been the subject of systematic study since 1646, but there is no agreement among researchers as to who can be considered a left-hander, what is the etiology of left-handedness, or what the proportion of left-handedness is in the world's population. This article reports the results of a handedness survey administered to 12,000 subjects in 17 countries, the largest handedness survey attemped. The paper discusses methods for determining handedness, the probability of a genetic component for handedness, and the relationship of sex, birth order, multiple birth, and first-degree relative's handedness on subject's handedness. A hypothesis for the etiology of left-handedness is presented.

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Perelle, I.B., Ehrman, L. An international study of human handedness: The data. Behav Genet 24, 217–227 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067189

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067189

Key Words

  • Handedness
  • laterality
  • family sinistrality
  • left-hander