Porac Laterality

Exploring the Enigma of Left-Handedness
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-12-801357-1
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 232 Seiten

Left-handedness has been connected to many different conditions, traits, and abilities.ÿ This is especially true for pathological syndromes, such as schizophrenia, along with learning disabilities and autism.ÿ The published research on handedness is vast and frequently contradictory, often raising more questions than providing answers.ÿ Questions such as: - Is handedness genetic? - Can handedness be changed? - Are there consequences to training someone to switch handedness? - Are there positive traits associated with left-handedness like creativity? - Are there negative traits associated with left-handedness like trouble reading maps? - Is it abnormal to do some things right-handed and other things left-handed? - Are the brains of left-handers different from the brains of right-handers? Laterality: Exploring the Enigma of Left-Handedness examines the research conducted over the past 50 years with special emphasis on twenty-first century research on handedness and translates this literature into an accessible and readable form.ÿ Each chapter is based on a question or questions covering diverse topics such as genetic and biological origins of handedness, familial and hormonal influences on handedness, and the effects of a majority right-handed world on the behaviors of left-handers. - Summarizes scientific research on laterality - Separates fact from fiction in common beliefs about laterality - Includes illustrative interviews with left-handers

Clare Porac received her Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Duquesne University and her MA and PhD degrees in psychology from the New School for Social Research. From 1974 to 1999 she was a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. In 1999, she returned to the United States and assumed the positions of Professor of Psychology and Director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Erie. In 2005-2006 she spent a sabbatical as the visiting Senior Scientist in the Science Directorate of the American Psychological Association. She returned to the American Psychological Association from 2007-2009 and served as the Associate Executive Director for Graduate and Postgraduate Education in the Education Directorate. Her current position is Professor of Psychology at Penn State Erie. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (Divisions 1 and 3), the Canadian Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science and the Eastern Psychological Association. She served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Psychological Association and is currently serving a term on the Executive Committee of Division 3 (Experimental Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and on the APA Council of Representatives as a member representing Division 1 (Society for General Psychology). She is also a member of the Psychonomic Society. Clare Porac was a co-author on the first two editions of the textbook, Sensation and Perception. However, it was her lead authorship on the book, Lateral Preferences and Human Behavior that established her international reputation as a researcher in the field of human lateral preferences including handedness. She has authored or coauthored 63 research articles and has presented 66 conference papers on her human laterality research; she has an additional 55 publications and 50 conference papers on other topics. In Canada, she received grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the University of Victoria and the Dorothy and David Lam Endowment to support her work. In the United States, her research is supported by funds from Penn State University. She currently serves on the editorial boards of two of the major journals dealing with human laterality, Laterality and Brain and Cognition. Clare Porac has lectured on human lateral preferences at universities in the United States, Canada, the UK and New Zealand. She has given media interviews that have appeared in Canadian outlets such as The Edmonton Journal, The Calgary Sun, and The Globe and Mail. In the United States, interviews have appeared in USA Today, Toledo Blade and The Detroit News and also on National Public Radio.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Porac, Clare

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Front Cover;1
2;Laterality;4
3;Copyright Page;5
4;Dedication;6
5;Contents;8
6;Preface;10
7;Acknowledgments;12
8;1 Everybody’s Right, So What’s Left?;14
8.1;Hand Preference;14
8.1.1;Hand Preference Questionnaires: How Many Questions?;17
8.1.2;Hand Preference Questionnaires: How Are the Questions Scored?;17
8.1.3;Hand Preference Questionnaires: How Are Hand Preference Types Defined?;20
8.2;Hand Performance;22
8.3;Hand Preference and Performance: Same or Different?;24
8.4;Measuring Handedness: Do’s and Don’ts;26
8.5;References;27
9;2 Left in the Genes;30
9.1;One Gene, Two Hands;33
9.1.1;Handedness and Brain Lateralization for Language;35
9.1.2;Handedness by Chance;37
9.1.3;Handedness and Sex;38
9.1.4;Handedness and the Genome;40
9.2;Many Genes, Two Hands;41
9.2.1;The ACE of Handedness;42
9.3;What Conclusion is Left?;44
9.4;References;45
10;3 Who’s Left in the Family?;50
10.1;Familial Sinistrality;50
10.2;Families and Pathological Left-Handedness;51
10.2.1;Developmental Instability;52
10.2.2;Birth Order and Birth Complications;53
10.3;What’s Left to the Parents?;55
10.3.1;Cradling Bias;57
10.4;References;60
11;4 Left-Handers and the Right Mind;64
11.1;Right Brain, Left Brain, and Handedness;65
11.1.1;Words on the Left, Images on the Right;68
11.2;Thinking Left and Right;70
11.2.1;Creativity: Left, Right, or Both?;70
11.2.2;Handedness and Intelligence;72
11.3;Handwriting Postures and the Hemispheres;73
11.4;Right Brain, Left Brain;77
11.5;References;78
12;5 Left with Raging Hormones;84
12.1;Men to the Left, Women to the Right;85
12.1.1;Pointing Fingers at Testosterone and Left-Handedness;88
12.2;Left-Handedness and Sexual Orientation;91
12.3;Left for All Seasons;93
12.4;References;95
13;6 Left to Die;100
13.1;Why Left-Handedness and Early Death?;103
13.1.1;Pathological Left-Handedness;104
13.1.2;Left-Handedness and Accident Risk;104
13.1.3;The Elimination Hypothesis: An Addition of Risks;106
13.2;Challenging Elimination;106
13.3;Handedness Modification;108
13.4;Eliminating Elimination;111
13.5;References;112
14;7 Left in a Right-Handed World;116
14.1;Left-Handers Become Right-Handers;116
14.1.1;Specific Training of the Nonpreferred Hand;122
14.1.2;Reaching to the Right and Left;123
14.2;Left-Handedness: Dangerous or Just Different?;124
14.2.1;Left-Handedness as a Hand Injury Risk;124
14.2.2;Are Left-Handers Accident-Prone?;125
14.3;References;126
15;8 Geography, History, and the Left Hand;132
15.1;Touring the World with Left-Hand Turns;132
15.1.1;Nations, Regions, and the Left Hand;138
15.2;Left-Handed Ups and Downs Through History;140
15.3;References;143
16;9 Disorders, Diseases, and Life on the Left;148
16.1;Left-Handedness and Disorders of the Mind;150
16.1.1;Schizophrenia and Schizotypy: Left with Ambiguity;151
16.1.2;Mood and Anxiety Disorders and Left-Handedness;154
16.1.3;Autism, Language Disorders, and Left-Handedness;155
16.2;Is Left-handedness a Marker for Poor Health?;156
16.2.1;Does Disease Take a Left Turn?;157
16.2.2;Drinks, Drugs, and the Left Hand;159
16.3;A New Approach to Left-Handedness and Pathology;160
16.4;References;163
17;10 Life on the Left: Not Bad After All;170
17.1;Is There a Left-Handed Personality Type?;170
17.1.1;Left-Handedness and Anxiety;173
17.1.2;The Left-Handed Dreamer;175
17.2;Left-Handedness, Ability, and Career Choice;175
17.2.1;Left-Handers, Work, and Income;177
17.3;Left in the Sporting Life;180
17.3.1;The Fighting Hypothesis, Left-Handedness, and Direct Interactive Sports;181
17.3.2;Left-Handers and Fast Ball Sports;183
17.4;References;185
18;11 More Than a Left Hand;192
18.1;Footedness: The Other Limb Lateral Preference;192
18.1.1;Hand and Foot;195
18.2;Eyedness: The Problem of Two Eyes;196
18.2.1;Hand and Eye;200
18.3;Earedness: The Almost Forgotten Lateral Preference;201
18.4;The Lateral Preference Line-up;203
18.4.1;The Genetics of Sidedness;206
18.5;References;208
19;12 Leftovers;214
19.1;Hand Clasping and Arm Folding;214
19.2;Leg Crossing;217
19.3;Latent Leftness;219
19.4;Human Ancestors, Left and Right;221
19.5;One Thought Left;224
19.6;References;225
20;Index;228
21;Back Cover;234