Abstract
Hand, eye, foot, and ear preference were examined in a sample of 459 biologically related parent-offspring triads and 434 sibling pairs. Intercorrelations were computed using the side of preference as the dependent variables and then again using the absolute, strength of the displayed preference irrespective of side. The directional analyses did not show strong patterns of familial similarities; however, relatives did tend to resemble each other in the degree of lateralization manifested. Maternal and paternal resemblance to offspring vary over the four indices of laterality, and there are some suggestions of sex-specific interactions. These results imply that genetic influence may operate to affect the degree of expressed preference, while the side of preference may not be genetically encoded. These findings also suggest that lateral preferences for limb and sense organ may not be due to a single causal mechanism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Annett, M. (1964). A model of the inheritance of handedness and cerebral dominance.Nature 204:59–60.
Annett, M. (1970). A classification of hand preference by association analysis.Br. J. Psychol. 61:303–321.
Annett, M. (1973). Handedness in families.Ann. Hum. Genet. 37:93–105.
Annett, M. (1974). Handedness in the children of two left-handed parents.Br. J. Psychol. 65:129–131.
Annett, M. (1978a). Genetic and nongenetic influences on handedness.Behav. Genet. 8:227–249.
Annett, M. (1978b).A Single Gene Explanation of Right and Left Handedness, and Brainedness, Lancaster Polytechnic, Conventry, England.
Annett, M., and Turner A. (1974). Laterality and the growth of intellectual abilities.Br. J. Educ. 44:37–44.
Bakan, P., Dibb, G., and Reed, P. (1973). Handedness and birth stress.Neuropsychologia 11:363–366.
Blau, A. (1946).The Master Hand: A Study of the Origin and Meaning of Right and Left Sidedness and Its Relation to Personality and Language, American Orthopsychiatric Association, New York.
Bryden, M. P. (1979). Possible genetic mechanisms of handedness and laterality. Paper presented at the meetings of the Canadian Psychological Association, Quebec City, Quebec.
Carter-Saltzman, L., Scarr-Salapatek, S., Barker, W. B., and Katz, S. (1976). Left-handedness in twins: Incidence and patterns of performance in an adolescent sample.Behav. Genet. 6:189–294.
Chamberlain, H. D. (1928). The inheritance of left handedness.J. Hered. 19:557–559.
Collins, R. L. (1975). When left-handed mice live in right-handed worlds.Science 187:181–184.
Collins, R. L. (1977). Toward an admissible genetic model for the inheritance of the degree and direction of asymmetry. In Harnard, S., Doty, R. W., Jaynes, J., Goldstein, L., and Krauthamer, G. (eds.),Lateralization in the Nervous System, Academic Press, New York, pp. 137–150.
Corballis, M. C., and Beale, I. L. (1976).The Psychology of Left and Right, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, N.J.
Corballis, M. C., and Morgan, M. J. (1978). On the biological basis of human laterality. I. Evidence for a maturational left-right gradient.Behav. Brain. Sci. 2:261–269.
Coren, S., and Porac, C. (1977). Fifty centuries of right-handedness: The historical record.Science 198:631–632.
Coren, S., and Porac, C. (1978a). The validity and reliability of self-report items for the measurement of lateral preference.Br. J. Psychol. 69:207–211.
Coren, S., and Porac, C. (1978b). Are laterality behaviors a manifestation of a single, underlying process? Paper presented at the meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association, Ottawa, Ontario.
Coren, S. and Porac, C. (1979). Normative data on hand position during writing.Cortex 15:679–682.
Coren, S., and Porac, C. (1980). Birth factors and laterality: The effect of birth order, parental age and birth stress on four indices of lateral preference.Behav. Genet. 10: 123–138.
Coren, S., Porac, C., and Duncan P. (1979). The behavioral validation of a self-report inventory to assess four types of lateral preference.J. Clin. Neuropsychol. 1:55–65.
Dahlberg, G. (1943). Genotypic asymmetries.Proc. R. Soc. Edinburgh Ser. B 62:20–31.
Falconer, D. S. (1960).Introduction to Quantitative Genetics. Ronald Press, New York.
Falek, A. (1959). Handedness: A family study.Am. J. Hum. Genet. 11:52–62.
Fleminger, J. J., Dalton, R., and Standage, K. F. (1977). Age as a factor in the handedness of adults.Neuropsychologia 15:471–473.
Hecaen, H., and De Ajuriaguerra, J. (1964).Left-Handedness: Manual Superiority and Cerebral Dominance, Grune and Stratton, New York.
Hicks, R. E., and Kinsbourne, M. (1976). Human handedness: A partial cross-fostering study.Science 192:908–910.
Hildreth, G. (1949). The development and teaching of hand dominance I–IIIJ. Genet. Psychol. 75:197–275.
Levy, J. (1976). A review of evidence for a genetic component in the determination of handedness.Behav. Genet. 6:429–453.
Levy, J. (1977). The origins of lateral asymmetry. In Harnard, S., Doty, R. W., Jaynes, J., Goldstein, L., and Krauthamer, G. (eds.),Lateralization in the Nervous System, Academic Press, New York, pp. 195–212.
Levy, J., and Nagylaki, T. (1972). A model for the genetics of handedness.Genetics 72:117–128.
McClearn, G. E., and DeFries, J. C. (1973).Introduction to Behavioral Genetics, Freeman, San Francisco.
Merrell, D. J. (1957). Dominance of hand and eye.Hum. Biol. 29:314–328.
Morgan, J. (1977). Embryology and inheritance of asymmetry. In Harnard, S., Doty, R. W., Jaynes, S., Goldstein, L., and Krauthamer, G. (eds.),Lateralization in the Nervous System, Academic Press, New York, pp. 173–194.
Morgan, M. J., and Corballis, M. C. (1978). On the biological basis of human laterality. II. The mechanisms of inheritance.Behav. Brain Sci. 2:270–277.
Porac, C., and Coren, S., (1975). Is eye dominance a part of generalized laterality?Percept. Motor Skills 40:763–769.
Porac, C., and Coren, S. (1976). The dominant eye.Psychol. Bull. 83:880–897.
Porac, C., and Coren, S. (1978). Relationships between lateral preference behaviors in human beings.Behav. Brain Sci. 2:311–312.
Porac, C., and Coren, S. (1979). Individual and familial patterns in four dimensions of lateral preference.Neuropsychologia 17:543–548.
Porac, C., Coren, S., and Duncan, P. (1980). Life-span age trends in laterality.J. Gerontol. (in press).
Porac, C., Coren, S., Steiger, J. S., and Duncan, P. (1980). Human laterality: A multidimensional approach.Can. J. Psychol. 34:91–96.
Raczkowski, D., Kalat, J. W., and Nebes, R. (1974). Reliability and validity of some handedness questionnaire items.Neuropsychologia 12:43–48.
Rife, D. C. (1940). Handedness with special reference to twins.Genetics 25:178–186.
Springer, S. P., and Searleman, A. (1978). Laterality in twins: The relationship between handedness and hemispheric asymmetry for speech.Behav. Genet. 8:349–358.
Wile, I. S. (1934).Handedness, Right and Left, Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, Boston.
Wilson, J. R., and Sanders, B. (1978). Evidence on handedness from the Hawaii Family Study.Behav. Genet. 8:574–575.
Woo, T. L., and Pearson, K. (1927). Dextrality and sinistrality of hand and eye.Biometrics 19:165–199.
Zoccolotti, P. (1978). Inheritance of ocular dominance.Behav. Genet. 8:377–379.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by grants from The Medical Research Council of Canada and The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and represents the equal and shared contribution of both authors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coren, S., Porac, C. Family patterns in four dimensions of lateral preference. Behav Genet 10, 333–348 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065596
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065596