Abstract
The current study aimed to build on the work of Gooderham & Bryden (2013) by comparing the effects of task complexity on hand selection in children. It was hypothesized that the increasing complexity of a task would override a biomechanically efficient movement such that participants would use only the preferred hand to complete the task, and that this tendency to switch hands would increase with age. Right-handed children aged 3-to12 years completed the newly designed Hand Selection Complexity Task (HSCT) which is an observational method designed to investigate the effects of task difficulty on hand selection in terms of Fitts’ Law. The measures allows for the proximity of reaches to remain the same, while manipulating task difficulty. Participants also completed the Long Pegboard (Bryden, et al., 1994), which measured the behavioural preference of hand selection. Finally, participants completed the Waterloo Handedness Questionnaire, to determine hand preference. Results indicated that for the HSCT the time to complete the movement increased for ID levels 4-6, which also include a greater number of errors. In addition, children tended to switch to their preferred (right) hand and with practice were able to complete the task faster. With respect to the Long Pegboard, when the task was performed with their left hand, they tended to switch to using their preferred (right) hand to complete the task. No switches were recorded when beginning the task with the right hand. The results of this study will be discussed in light current theories of hand selection.
