title: Is there a "best hand" for braille?
abstract: Two experiments were conducted on lateral differences in Braille tasks with predominantly right-handed blind children. The hypothesis that hand advantages change with absolute proficiency levels was not supported for either letter discrimination, letter naming or word reading. Experiment 1 provided support for the hypothesis that hand advantages depend on a combination of tasks demands and individual strategy preferences associated with relative proficiency or retardation. Retarded readers were significantly faster with the left hand in letter discrimination, and adequate readers were significantly faster with the right hand in letter naming. Experiment 2 showed that for tasks which demanded lateral movements, two-handed reading was superior to reading by either hand alone, irrespective of absolute or relative reading proficiency. It was argued that there is no "best hand" as such for Braille, but that lateral advantages depend on specific interrelations between task demands, individual preferences and reading habits.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001766:Blindness / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D012682:Sensory Aids