ABSTRACT
The concept of handedness originated in rela tion to human animals, and handedness in hu mans is documented from the earliest written records to the present time (Bryden, 1982; Har ris, 1980,1990; Herron, 1980; Porac Sc Coren, 1981). The concept includes both the idea that an individual uses one hand more frequently than the other and the related idea that perfor mance is more skilled or efficient with the pre ferred hand. The fact that throughout recorded history approximately 85-90% of humans have been right-handed has engendered a certain mystique around this phenomenon. Embedded in this discourse was the issue of whether the right-handedness of humans was socially con ditioned or inborn. The view that the right hand was the “right” one for humans to use was in corporated into many aspects of language, lit erature, and social custom, with positive asso ciations for the right and negative for the left. It is still generally stated that humans are right handed despite the fact that 10-15% of the population are left-handed or ambidextrous.
