title: Subliminal priming and effects of hand dominance.
abstract: In the masked priming paradigm, motor responses to targets are influenced by previously presented subliminal primes, and are guided by facilitatory and inhibitory mechanisms that depend on prime-target compatibility/duration. In this study, we evaluate subliminal-driven priming in right- and left-handers during unimanual as well as bimanual tasks. The data from the unimanual tasks confirmed that prime-target compatibility affects performance as a function of prime-target duration. In a bimanual setting, the preferred hand benefitted from facilitation in both handedness groups whereas the non-preferred hand showed a positive priming effect only in left-handers. This denotes that left-handers are more susceptible to response activation of either hand. In addition, inhibitory priming had a stronger effect on the non-preferred than preferred hand, independent of handedness group. Overall, the findings suggest that subliminal-driven mechanisms that assist adaptive motor behavior are sensitive not only to extrinsic (task-related) factors such as prime-target compatibility but also to intrinsic (performer-related) factors such as hand dominance. The data further provide support for handedness-specific effects in motor functions and underline a significant role of hand dominance in the control of bimanual actions.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK. deborah.serrien@nottingham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Serrien
authors.forename: Michiel M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Sovijärvi-Spapé
authors.forename: Gita
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rana
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010470:Perceptual Masking / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation