The effects of specific birth stressors on four indexes of lateral preference.

Coren, Stanley; Searleman, Alan; Porac, Clare

doi:10.1037/h0080657

Cited by 72 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…This might have been justified since this replicates previous work and the prediction is clearly unidirectional.) Thus the overall pattern of results for the probands generally confirms earlier research which used these same birth stress variables and found that left-handedness is more likely to be associated with individuals who have been birth stressed (e.g., Coren and Porac, 1980b;Coren et aL, 1982).…”

Section: Proband Handedness and Birth Stresssupporting

confidence: 86%

Family patterns in handedness: Evidence for indirect inheritance mediated by birth stress

Coren

1995

Behav Genet

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The most common alternative to a genetic explanation of left-handedness is that sinistrality arises because of birth stress factors. In a sample of 1398 subjects, the association between birth stress and left-handedness was confirmed. More importantly, it was found that left-handed mothers are more likely to have birth-stressed offspring and that the presence of any left-handed sibling increases the likelihood of a history of birth stress in the proband. This was interpreted as suggesting that a plausible alternative to the genetic explanation for the usual pattern of association observed in family studies of handedness (where a left-handed mother increases the probability of left-handed offspring) is that the mother-offspring association may actually be mediated by birth stress rather than representing heritable aspects of handedness.

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Section: Proband Handedness and Birth Stresssupporting

confidence: 86%

Family patterns in handedness: Evidence for indirect inheritance mediated by birth stress

Coren

1995

Behav Genet

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“…A growing body of evidence (7)(8)(9)(10) suggests that left-handedness and deviations from standard handwriting postures may also arise as subtle consequences of similar birth stressors. Again, such sinistrality shows up as a deviation from the population norm, rather than as an overt instance of abnormality.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The specific birth stressors listed on the questionnaire were "premature birth," "prolonged labor," "breech birth," "blue-baby or breathing difficulties," "low birth weight," "Caesarean delivery," "multiple births (i.e., twins or triplets)," and "Rh incompatibility." This method of assessing birth trauma in college-aged subjects has been successfully employed in a number of studies (7)(8)(9). In addition to information pertaining to possible birth stressors, mothers were also queried as to whether there were any manifest sleep difficulties for each of her children when infants.…”

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confidence: 99%

Birth Stress and Self-Reported Sleep Difficulty

Coren

Searleman

1985

Sleep

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Summary: Difficulty in falling asleep and frequency of night wakenings were assessed in 1,272 college-aged individuals for whom birth histories (based on retrospective maternal reports) were available. A history of birth complications was associated with reports of sleep difficulties as an infant. Birth stressors, such as breech birth, prolonged labor, low birth weight, and multiple births, were predictive of disrupted sleep patterns in the young adult.

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“…In addition to examining hand preference, we also included measures of foot, eye, and ear preferences. By adding these other lateral preference indexes, it is possible to obtain a better appreciation of an individual's overall preference for left-or right-sidedness (e.g., Coren, Searleman, & Porac, 1982;Porac & Coren, 1981). For instance, suppose that the data demonstrate that individuals in the LH Unsuccessful Shift group possess more consistent left hand preference patterns than those in the LH Successful Shift group.…”

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confidence: 95%

Lateral preference patterns as possible correlates of successfully switched left hand writing: Data and a theory

Searleman¹,

Porac²

2001

Laterality

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Left-handers often have had to contend with pressure to switch their preferred writing hand and shift attempt reports are common, especially among older adult left-handers. Three groups of left-handers can be defined by combining two variables, writing hand side and the report of a rightward hand preference shift attempt. The three groups are, first, right hand writers who report a rightward shift (successfully shifted left-handers); second, left hand writers who report a rightward shift attempt (unsuccessfully shifted left-handers); and, finally, left hand writers who do not report a rightward shift attempt. The underlying mechanisms that determine the success or failure of a handwriting shift attempt remain unclear. The present study examined the history of attempts to switch the preferred writing hand in a sample of 1277 adults aged 65 to 100 years of age. Older adults are well suited to participate in such a study because pressure to switch hand preference was especially severe for those who grew up in the early part of the 20th century; reports of rightward shift attempts are more common in this age group than among younger adults. Our results suggest that the three groups of left-handers, distinguished by the presence or absence of a shift history report and writing hand side, can also be distinguished from each other on the basis of their overall lateral preference profiles (the sides of hand, foot, eye, and ear preferences). Left hand writers, with and without reports of a rightward shift history, showed stronger left side lateralisation patterns when compared to right hand writers who reported a rightward switch (the successfully shifted left-handers).

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The effects of specific birth stressors on four indexes of lateral preference.

Cited by 72 publications

References 32 publications

Family patterns in handedness: Evidence for indirect inheritance mediated by birth stress

Family patterns in handedness: Evidence for indirect inheritance mediated by birth stress

Birth Stress and Self-Reported Sleep Difficulty

Lateral preference patterns as possible correlates of successfully switched left hand writing: Data and a theory

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