Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 10, 2026

Block Building Task Identifies Distinct Groups of Left/Right-hand Choice Patterns After Unilateral Peripheral Nerve Injury
07:06

Block Building Task Identifies Distinct Groups of Left/Right-hand Choice Patterns After Unilateral Peripheral Nerve Injury

Published on: March 21, 2025

Latent classes in the developmental trajectories of infant handedness

George F Michel1, Iryna Babik1, Ching-Fan Sheu2

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Developmental Psychology
|June 19, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Infant handedness development shows distinct patterns, with most infants developing a right-hand preference over time. Early assessments may misclassify infant handedness, impacting research on neurobehavioral development.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Human Behavior

Background:

  • Handedness, established in adulthood, is linked to neural organization and psychological functioning.
  • Understanding infant handedness development is crucial for insights into early neurobehavioral organization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify distinct developmental trajectories of infant handedness.
  • To evaluate the reliability of conventional infant handedness assessment methods.
  • To explore the relationship between infant handedness trajectories and neurobehavioral development.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal assessment of object-acquiring handedness in 328 infants from 6 to 14 months.
  • Application of a group-based trajectory model to identify latent handedness groups.
  • Comparison of trajectory-identified groups with classifications based on monthly z-scores and limited-duration handedness indices.

Main Results:

  • Three distinct handedness trajectories were identified: persistent right preference (38%), persistent left preference (14%), and a developing right preference (48%).
  • All groups showed significant quadratic trends, with preferences stabilizing around 10-11 months.
  • Conventional methods (z-score, short-term index) failed to reliably estimate handedness compared to trajectory analysis.
  • Misclassification rates for infant handedness could range from 37% to 45% with single assessments.

Conclusions:

  • Infant handedness emerges through distinct developmental pathways, not all establishing a clear preference early on.
  • Longitudinal trajectory analysis provides a more robust method for classifying infant handedness than single-time-point assessments.
  • Inaccurate early handedness classification may obscure relationships with cognitive, social, and emotional development, highlighting the need for nuanced assessment.

More Related Videos

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm06:07

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task11:18

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task

Published on: June 1, 2015

Related Concept Videos

Lateralization01:28

Lateralization

Brain lateralization refers to the division of mental processes and functions between the two hemispheres of the brain, a phenomenon that optimizes neural efficiency and underpins complex abilities in humans. This specialization allows each hemisphere to perform tasks where it has a comparative advantage, facilitating more refined cognitive capabilities across different domains.
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
Stella Chess...
The Nativist Approach01:21

The Nativist Approach

The nativist approach to infant cognitive development proposes that infants are born with inherent knowledge structures that allow them to interpret the world almost immediately. This perspective contrasts with earlier developmental theories, such as those proposed by Jean Piaget, which emphasized a more gradual acquisition of cognitive abilities through interaction with the environment. One key concept in this approach is object permanence — the understanding that objects continue to exist...
Hierarchy of Motor Control01:18

Hierarchy of Motor Control

The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.
Introduction to Developmental Psychology01:27

Introduction to Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychology explores the changes and continuities in human abilities throughout life, encompassing physical, cognitive, linguistic, and social dimensions. Human development is not restricted to growth, but includes aspects of decline, particularly in physical abilities as individuals age. Developmental psychologists seek to understand how people change as they age and how their mental and social skills evolve.Developmental MilestonesA key concept in developmental psychology is...
Language Development01:22

Language Development

Children master language quickly and with relative ease, supported by both biological predisposition and reinforcement. B. F. Skinner (1957) proposed that language is learned through reinforcement, while Noam Chomsky (1965) argued that language acquisition mechanisms are biologically determined.
The critical period for language acquisition suggests that the ability to acquire language is at its peak early in life. As people age, this proficiency decreases. Language development begins very...