Correlation between tests of attention and performance on grooved and Purdue pegboards in normal subjects

This study investigated the relation between tests of manual dexterity and attentional functions with 49 normal, right-handed medical students (26 women, 23 men, ages 19-30 years) who were assessed with a Purdue Pegboard Test, Grooved Pegboard Test, and a Test for Attentional Performance, comprising measures of tonic and phasic alertness and divided attention. Weak to moderately high partial correlations controlling for finger size were obtained between pegboard test performance of the left hand and phasic alertness (r = .31-.50). Purdue Pegboard Assembly subtest scores were weakly correlated with divided attention (r = -.39). These findings suggest that attention is an important determinant of performance for manual dexterity tests of the nondominant hand.     

Locus of control and perceived alcohol ingestion in performance of a fine motor skill

To investigate the influence of locus of control on a fine motor corrdination task where subjects had ingested or believed that they had ingested alcohol, 60 men who were enrolled in introductory psychology and scored in the upper or lower thirds of the population on Rotter's I-E Scale (30 external and 30 internal scorers) were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: a control group (no alcohol expected/no alcohol received), an alcohol group (alcohol expected/alcohol received), and a placebo group (alcohol expected/no alcohol received). Pretest and posttest measures of performance on the Purdue Pegboard Test were obtained from all subjects. Subjects in the control groups were given three 6-oz. (177.4-ml) glasses of fruit punch over a 35-min. waiting period between pretest and posttest on the Purdue Pegboard. The alcohol groups drank a sufficient number of similar glasses (usually three) to produce a 0.1% measure on a breathalyzer before completing the posttest on the Purdue. Pegboard. The placebo groups were told that they were drinking an alcohol-based drink but were served three glasses of a nonalcoholic, rum-flavored fruit drink. These groups were also told that they measured 0.1% on a breathalyzer. Control groups, both internal and external scorers, showed essentially no change from pre- to posttest on the Purdue Pegboard. The alcohol groups, on the other hand, both internal and external scorers, showed a significant decrement in performance. The internal-placebo group did not differ from the two control groups and showed no decrement in performance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Unidirectional interference in use of nondominant hand during concurrent Grooved Pegboard and random number generation tasks

The interference effect between Grooved Pegboard task with either hand and the executive task of cued verbal random number generation was investigated. 24 normal right-handed subjects performed each task under separate (single-task) and concurrent (dual-task) conditions. Articulatory suppression was required as an additional secondary task during pegboard performance. Analysis indicated an unambiguous distinction between the two hands. Comparisons of single-task and dual-task conditions showed an asymmetrical pattern of unidirectional interference with no practice effects during pegboard performance. Concurrent performance with nondominant hand but not the dominant hand of random number generation performance became continuously slower. There was no effect of divided attention on pegboard performance. Findings support the idea that the nondominant hand on the pegboard and random number tasks draw from the same processing resources but that for the executive aspect random number generation is more sensitive to changes in allocation of attentional resources.     

Asymmetric control of force and symmetric control of timing in bimanual finger tapping

An experiment was conducted to examine the control of force and timing in bimanual finger tapping. Participants were trained to produce both unimanual (left or right hand) and bimanual finger-tapping sequences with a peak force of 200 g and an intertap interval (ITI) of 400 ms. During practice, visual force feedback was provided pertaining to the hand performing the unimanual tapping sequences and to either the dominant or the nondominant hand in the bimanual tapping sequences. After practice, the participants produced the learned unimanual and bimanual tapping sequences in the absence of feedback. In those trials the force produced by the dominant (right) hand was significantly larger than that produced by the nondominant (left) hand, in the absence of a significant difference between the ITIs produced by both hands. Furthermore, after unilateral feedback had been provided of the force produced by the nondominant hand, the force output of the dominant hand was significantly more variable than that of the nondominant hand. In contrast, after feedback had been provided of the force produced by the dominant hand, the variability of the force outputs of the two hands did not differ significantly. These results were discussed in the light of both neurophysiological and anatomical findings, and were interpreted to imply that the control of timing (in bimanual tasks) may be more tightly coupled in the motor system than the control of force.     

Change in dexterity with sensory awareness training: a randomised controlled trial

The role of sensory awareness in movement control is receiving increasing interest in sports and clinical literature as a feed-forward and feedback mechanism. The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility and effect of training in sensory awareness on dexterity in healthy adults. 29 healthy students were randomly allocated to a single-group, sensory awareness lesson with the dominant hand, the same lesson with the nondominant hand, or to a sham control group. Dexterity measures included the Purdue Pegboard Test, a grip-lift manipulandum, and perceived changes using a questionnaire. The sensory awareness lesson with the dominant hand produced a statistically significant improvement in mean dexterity compared to the control group, but not between the other two pairs of groups. The sensory awareness training paradigm is feasible and a single session improved dexterity in healthy adults.     

Frontal lobe functioning in adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

A prominent hypothesis regarding the etiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is that its presence and magnitude reflect frontal lobe dysfunction. Past tests of this hypothesis have been inconsistent. The present study examined frontal lobe functioning in adolescents with ADHD. A sample of 10 ADHD adolescents and 10 controls between the ages of 12 and 17 served as participants for the study. The control group was matched on age (within six months) and gender. This study aided in clarifying past contradictory studies by using clearly defined criteria to determine ADHD, a representative age range of participants, carefully selected tests, and a control task. The two measures that were administered to assess frontal lobe functioning were the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the Stroop Color and Word Test. The Purdue Pegboard was used as a control measure that did not assess frontal lobe functioning. The findings indicate that the ADHD group performed significantly worse on the following: color score, color/word score, and interference score of the Stroop Color and Word Test; percent of perseverative responses, percent of perseverative errors, and number of completed categories of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. No differences were found on the Purdue Pegboard task.     

Bilateral transfer in mentally retarded children of ages 7 to 17 years

The purpose of this study was to describe the effect of age on bilateral transfer of mildly mentally retarded girls (IQs of 70 to 90) after practice on a 45-rpm rotary pursuit task. Subjects were 96 girls from 7 to 17 yr. old. Each performed 14 trials on a rotary pursuit task (30-sec. trials, 10 sec. between trials), half performing the first seven trials with the nonpreferred hand, using the preferred hand on the next seven trials. The order was reversed for the remaining subjects. Nonsignificant differences between Trial 1 scores of the two groups indicated that the task was novel. Trial 1 scores of both groups were positively associated with age (r = 0.5). There was no transfer to preferred hand, with negative transfer occurring to the nonpreferred hand. It was concluded that, for the task used in this study, mentally retarded girls do not experience positive bilateral transfer as do normal, age-matched girls.     

Visual dominance in a lateral plane motor learning task.

Visual dominance was investigated in a motor learning task with the criterion movement being in the lateral plane of the body. The criterion movement was a 10-in. abduction of the arm. All subjects received four presentation trials for the criterion movement in each of the following conditions: dominant rotated arm, dominant unrotated arm, nondominant rotated arm, and nondominant unrotated arm. Three independent groups of 10 college-age subjects differed according to sensory stimuli given during presentation trials. The Kinesthetic group was blindfolded for presentation trials. The Visual and Kinesthetic group was unblindfolded for presentation trials. The Alternating group was blindfolded on half of the presentation trials and unblindfolded on the other half. All subjects carried out five blindfolded reproduction trials for each of the four conditions. Absolute error for the length of the reproduced movements was measured and no significant difference between groups was found. This suggests that visual dominance is reduced in movements outside the frontal plane when focal vision is not used. Planned comparison testing indicated the Alternating group was significantly more accurate than the Visual and Kinesthetic group.     

Purdue pegboard performance of disabled and normal readers: Unimanual versus bimanual differences

Differences between dyslexics and controls in the unimanual and bimanual conditions of the peg placement section of the Purdue Pegboard Test were examined. Twenty-three disabled and twenty-three normal readers were studied. The groups were carefully screened on a neuropsychological battery. The disabled readers were comprised of a relatively homogeneous language-disordered subgroup exhibiting deficits in naming. Significant Group X Condition interactions were obtained for both raw and percentile scores and indicated that disabled readers performed worse than controls in the unimanual compared to bimanual conditions. The dyslexics performed particularly poorly compared with controls on the left hand condition. The implications of these data for hypotheses which argue for left hemisphere dysfunction, as well as those which posit interhemispheric transfer deficits in reading disabled children, are discussed.     

The influence of task characteristics on younger and older adult motor overflow

This study investigated the influence of attentional and motor demands on motor overflow in 17 healthy young (18-35 years) and 17 older adults (60-80 years). Participants performed a finger pressing task by exerting either 33% or 66% of their maximal force output using their dominant or nondominant hand. Overflow was concurrently recorded in the passive hand. Attention was manipulated via a tactile stimulus presented to one or both hands for certain trials. Results showed that older adults exhibited greater overflow than young adults and that the effect of target force was exacerbated in older adults. Further, only older adult overflow was increased when tactile stimulation was directed to one or both hands. Increased overflow in older adults may result from bilateral cortical activation that is influenced by increased task demands. To perform comparatively to younger adults, older adults may compensate for age-related brain changes by recruiting an increased cortical network.     

Comparison of automated and standard administration of the Purdue Pegboard with mentally retarded adults.

Standard and automated administrations of the Purdue Pegboard to 32 mentally retarded adults were compared in a test-retest paradigm. The automated administration involved videotape and audio input. Both types of administration yielded equivalent scores except on the assembly portion of the test where the difference favored the automated presentation. Spearman rank-order test-retest correlations over a 2-mo. period showed both types of test administration to be equally reliable.     

Octogenarian and centenarian performance on the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation

The Fuld Object Memory Evaluation (FOME) has considerable utility for cognitive assessment in older adults, but there are few normative data, particularly for the oldest old. In this study, 80 octogenarians and 244 centenarians from the Georgia Centenarian Study completed the FOME. Total and trial-to-trial performance on the storage, retrieval, repeated retrieval, and ineffective reminder indices were assessed. Additional data stratified by age group, education, and cognitive impairment are provided in the Supplemental data. Octogenarians performed significantly better than centenarians on all FOME measures. Neither age group benefitted from additional learning trials beyond Trial 3 for storage and Trial 2 for retention and retrieval. Ineffective reminders showed no change across learning trials for octogenarians, while centenarians improved only between Trials 1 and 2. This minimal improvement past Trial 2 indicates that older adults might benefit from a truncated version of the test that does not include trials three through five, with the added benefit of reducing testing burden in this population.     

Effects of an Occupational Therapy Hand Dominance Transfer Intervention for Soldiers With Crossed Hand-Eye Dominance

Crossed dominance (CD) is defined as an individual's dominant hand and dominant eye being on opposite sides of the body. CD negatively impacts an individual's ability to accurately aim and fire long-barreled guns. The authors developed and evaluated a hand dominance transfer (HDT) intervention to improve the M16 rifle shooting accuracy, efficiency, and skill transfer. Twenty-four U.S. Army soldiers with CD were taught how to handle and fire an M16 rifle using the nondominant hand. Training was conducted at a military, indoor laser-equipped weapons simulator. Accuracy for shooting 40 rounds at baseline with the nondominant eye and dominant hand (NDE/DH) was 22.12 compared to shooting 30.46 with the dominant eye and nondominant hand (DE/NDH). This difference was statistically significant with p = .000. The transfer of shooting accuracy skill (retention) following the HDT intervention was 33.42 with a comparative p value of .100. Efficiency of shooting 10 rounds at baseline with the NDE/DH was 6.3 compared to shooting 7.3 with the DE/NDH. This difference was not statistically significant (p = .107). The transfer of shooting efficiency skill (retention) was 7.96 with a comparative p value of .349. This study supports shooting with the DE/NDH. HDT could be further developed to address the soldiering skill of shooting an M16.     

“右好左坏”和“左好右坏”——利手与左右空间情感效价的关联性

人们会将“右”和“左”与积极或消极的事物相关联,这称为左右空间的情感效价.以具身认知理论和躯体特异性假设为基础的研究发现,右利手会将右侧空间与积极事物相关联,而左利手则会将左侧空间与积极事物相关连;左右空间情感效价是由利手与非利手的运动经验塑造的;利手与非利手运动经验的改变则会反转左右空间情感效价;趋近动机脑功能偏侧化与利手是一致的.未来的研究应进一步澄清利手运动与趋近动机在神经机制上的关联性,并探索文化因素与身体经验如何共同塑造左右空间情感效价.     

Stabilisation of bimanual coordination through visual coupling

Eight right-handed participants performed a bilateral circle tracing task in symmetric or asymmetric patterns. Circle tracing was performed in synchrony with an auditory metronome and a visual display at, or comfortably below, each participant's transition frequency. The visual display consisted of a row of five light-emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged between the two circles (hands). Bimanual pattern stability was examined under conditions where the direction of illumination of the visual stimuli was compatible or incompatible with the hand direction. Symmetric patterns maintained stability for both movement rates whereas asymmetric patterns exhibited loss of stability at the transition frequency. Spontaneous reversals in circling direction occurred predominantly (94%) through the nondominant hand. Laterality effects were also evident in the aspect ratio (circularity of trajectories) and limb frequency variation, particularly in asymmetric patterns at the transition frequency. Compatibility between the stimulus direction and circling direction served to: stabilise symmetric patterns; stabilise asymmetric patterns by delaying the onset of transition; and stabilise the individual limb dynamics when the direction of the dominant side was compatible with the visual stimulus. The data from this multisegmental task lend support to a model of coupled oscillators whereby the coupling strength is anisotropic between the dominant and nondominant side, and lend further support for an account of manual asymmetries by way of a preferential perception–action coupling through the dominant limb. PsycINFO Classification: 2320     

Developmental differences in drawing performance of the dominant and non-dominant hand in right-handed boys and girls

This paper addresses the development of fine motor skills in the dominant and non-dominant hand. A total of 60 right-handed children, aged 4-12 years old, were divided in five groups of 12 children, with six girls and six boys in each group. The children were presented with drawing tasks that had to be performed with the dominant and non-dominant hand. Small or large targets had to be connected by lines making either a zigzag (discrete) or slalom (continuous) movement. For each task, effects of age group, gender, hand, and target size were examined for drawing time, percentage of stop time, drawing distance, velocity, and errors. Comparison of stop times in both tasks showed that the zigzag task was performed in a discrete way while the slalom task was performed more continuously, except in the youngest children, who performed both tasks in a discrete manner. With increasing age the children performed the tasks faster, more accurate and with shorter stops. No significant differences were found between boys and girls. While a shorter drawing distance and less errors were observed for the dominant hand in both tasks, drawing time and velocity were not significantly different between both hands. However, the percentage of stop time was higher for the dominant hand. Moving to smaller targets resulted in slower and less accurate performance. A significant interaction of age group and hand was found for errors in both tasks, and for stop time and velocity in the slalom task, suggesting differential maturational changes for both hands in discrete and continuous drawing tasks.     

Cultural differences in drawing movements between right-handed Japanese and German participants

Differences in drawing movements with the dominant and nondominant hands by 41 right-handed students from Japan (9 men, 12 women; M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 1.4) and Germany (13 men, 7 women; M age = 23.4 yr., SD = 3.0) were investigated. Participants were asked to use each hand to draw a circle, a pentagon, and a rhombus in one stroke. Analysis showed that Japanese participants drew a circle clockwise with the dominant right hand, starting from 6 or 7 o'clock on the face of a clock, while the German participants drew the circle counterclockwise, starting from 11 or 12 o'clock. Moreover, when drawing a pentagon and a rhombus with the right hand, Japanese participants drew counterclockwise from the top-center vertex, whereas almost half of German participants drew clockwise from the left side and others drew counterclockwise from the top-center vertex. Using the left hand, no significant difference was found in starting positions or directionality. Cultural differences in the starting positions and directionality when using the dominant right hand probably reflect the influence of writing habits on the drawing movement of the dominant hand.     

Predictors of quantitative and qualitative Halstead finger-tapping scores in low socioeconomic status school-age children.

Two hundred and thirteen low socioeconomic school-age children in grades 1 through 8 were administered the Halstead Finger Oscillation (or Tapping) Test (HFTT). All children were age appropriate for their grade in school and were not requiring special education services. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that a composite age/grade classification score, gender, and estimated level of intelligence accounted for approximately 40% of the variability in dominant and nondominant hand scores for these children (multiple R = .627, R(2) = +.393 for the dominant and multiple R = +.607, R(2) = +.368 for the nondominant hand). Only the age/grade level of the child (R(2) = .168) predicted the ability to inhibit adjacent finger movements when performing the HFTT task. Regional normative data for low socioeconomic school-age children are presented. Neurodevelopmental changes in the cortical and subcortical systems underlying finger movement may account for some of the variability observed in children when performing the HFTT.     

Influences of handedness and gender on the grooved pegboard test

We studied performance on the Grooved Pegboard Test upon repeated trials and transfer of training between the hands in the first trial. The classification of handedness was based on the writing hand. We employed three trials for each hand and two different protocols for the order in which the hands started the test. For the three trials combined, women were faster than men. From the first to the second trial, there was an improvement in performance for both sexes. Within the first trial, sex differences reached significance and the protocol interacted with handedness. In this trial, only left-handed men were found to benefit from previous opposite-hand performance. It is speculated that a larger corpus callosum in left-handed men allows for the greater transfer of training between the hands.     

Effect of diazepam on visuomotor reaction time

20 male and 10 female adult, normal, healthy subjects, whose mean age was 26.34 yr., participated in a double-blind study of the effect of a single dose (0.2 mg./kg. of body weight) of diazepam on visuomotor reaction time. Reaction time was measured before drug administration, and 60 min., and 120 min. after administration. Separate reaction times for the dominant and nondominant hand were recorded. There were no significant differences between the diazepam and placebo group at each of the three time intervals. Diazepam in the single dose employed does not appear to affect adversely visuomotor reaction time of relatively young, normal, healthy adults. For both groups the difference in visuomotor reaction time between the dominant hand and the nondominant hand was statistically significant as expected.