The Assessment of Task-Dependent Manual Laterality in Second Grade Students

Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate the task-dependent manual laterality during fine coordination and grapho-motor tests in school children. Materials and Methods: We used two action tests (transitive and intransitive) to assess fine coordination skills and a tablet PC to assess number of strokes, pressure, speed and quality in a figure-tracing skill test, among 20 school children (12 girls and 8 boys) of second grade (7-8 years old). Results: Two-way RM-ANOVA (side × gender) revealed better values in the transitive task on the dominant side (p<0.05), a lesser number of strokes in girls (p<0.001), especially on the dominant side, and higher pressure and better quality on the dominant side (p<0.001). We also found correlations between speed and strokes ratios (r=-0.684), speed and quality ratios (r=0.627), stroke and quality ratios (r=-0.440), and pressure and stroke ratios (rho=-0.395). Conclusions: Findings showed that functional asymmetry was prominent in complex tasks and in tasks related to practice, such as tracing. Gender differences were also involved. Finally, children were shown to use specific motor strategies to accomplish coordination and grapho-motor tasks with the non-dominant hand.