Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Laterality
Defining the Concept and Its Importance
Laterality is an internal awareness of the two sides in the body and that they are different (S. Bredin, 2020). Manual skills make significant changes over the first two years of life and it is not predictable which side is the preferred side (E. L. Nelson, J. M. Campbell & G. F. Michel, 2013). Laterality is progressively developed during the ages of 4-10 years old and during this time is when children develop a lateral preference (S. Bredin, 2020). Lateral preference demonstrates greater movement proficiency on one side of the body than the other (S. Bredin, 2020). With lateral preference it can be pure lateral dominance or cross lateral dominance. Pure lateral dominance means the arm, leg, eye, foot, and hand on the same side of the body are the preferred side (S. Bredin, 2020). Cross lateral dominance involves having a mix of preference (e.g. left foot, right eye and left hand) (S. Bredin, 2020). Laterality seen in humans is understood as having a dominant brain hemisphere for motor control, which leads to asymmetry of the dominant hand (Annett, 1972; Levy and Nagylaki, 1972; McManus, 1985, as cited in Souza, Coelho & Teixeira, 2014). Laterality is not just seen in movement but also general education (S. Bredin, 2020). During the childhood years, drawing and handwriting are important fine motor skills (Hernaiz Driever et al., 2012). “The idea that crossed laterality is linked to academic performance is becoming increasingly popular in the area of school education” (M. Ferrero, G. West & M. A. Vadillo, 2017). However, there is evidence to support that this is untrue as the results had no relation between academic performance and preference combination of left or right side of the body parts (M. Ferrero, G. West & M. A. Vadillo, 2017). This is why it is crucial for childhood educators, teachers, and grassroots coaches to understand that there are no correlation between left or right sided preference that is going to have an impact on academic success. As it is very unpredictable in infancy of what the child preferred side is (E. L. Nelson, J. M. Campbell & G. F. Michel, 2013).
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations
Laterality plays a big role in development as it determines one's laterality preference, especially in general education and overall development. With lateral dominance it tends to determine your greater movement proficiency (S. Bredin, 2020). Individual preferences are usually developed between the ages of 4 and 6, but in a research study that was conducted by Spruijit et al. (2015), it included ages of 5- 8 years old that involved studying hand laterality. It was noticed as the age of the participant increased, the speed of writing and drawing increased with the hand preference. This is due to that the lateral preference being developed as the child grows. There was another study that demonstrated how children around the age of 8 have not fully developed a hand preference as their right-handed preference was studied by performing simple tasks on the left hand that resulted in an increased preference of left handedness (Souza, Coelho & Teixeira, 2014). Most research is focused on handedness lateralization because it is the easiest for observation with about 90% of the population preferring the right (e.g. Peters et al., 2006, as cited Schütz & Schultheiss, 2020). The study from Schütz & Schultheiss (2020) focused on gymnasts and there was no motor laterality shown with the implicit motives, although the sample size was small there could be some inaccuracy. Grassroots educators, coaches and teachers should be aware of this evidence because their athletes or students could switch lateral preference even after the age of 8 when they seem to have already picked a side. There was another study conducted on sports and hand laterality that showed there was no relationship of neuromuscular control task between the different types of handedness (right, left and ambidextrous) (Alexandru, and Carmen, 2013). Although, in the study by Alexandru, and Carmen (2013) there was a simulation test which shows that left and ambidextrous players achieved good results. “Sports are almost free of any restrictions specifying use of the left or right" (Eastwood, 1972, as cited in Loffing et al., 2016, p.2). Even though the world is primarily right hand dominant, There are some positive outcomes of being left-handed or ambidextrous for sports that are interactive as you are mirroring your opponent (Loffing et al., 2016). Overall, there is not much evidence of correlation that any type of handedness has improvement of certain preference of side. As development happens overall, the child will grow to a preference of side which may be pure lateral dominance or cross lateral dominance. This preference will begin around the age of 4 and be fully developed around the age of 10. Therefore, there should be no reason for pushing a child to change their preference of dominant side.
Practical Applications
Game 1
Title: One Side Catch
Purpose statement:
The purpose of this game is to develop the pure lateral dominance or either the left side / right side of the body at a time.
target age: 4 to 10 years old
Apparatus/equipment needed and environmental space/set-up:
- 3 to 4 small mini rubber balls (approx. circumference of 2 ½ to 3 inches in diameter).
- Space is half court of an elementary school size indoor basketball court.
- Set up can spilt class into four teams. Two teams on one half court and the other two teams on the other half of the half court. Basically, its two games running at the same time.
- About 5 to 7 kids on one team.
- On the half court have one team on each end of the court. With each team standing in one straight line vertically from the wall facing the other team.
- Only one team is holding the balls. For example, if there are four teams which is two games then two teams have the balls.
Instructions:
- Both teams are lined up vertically facing each other in a straight line on opposite ends of the half court indoor elementary basketball court. Only one team has the balls.
- The first person in front of the line of the team without the ball comes up to the half court line. And tries to catch the ball thrown by the opposing team with only one hand. That person can only move sideways like a crab to catch the ball. They cannot move forward or backwards. They can only move from side to side. For example, if the ball is thrown to the left the person catching has to move the left side of their body to the left by side shuffle like a crab to try and catch the ball with their left hand. The same if the ball is thrown to the right side.
- The ball can only be thrown in two directions. That is to the left or right side. It cannot be thrown straight forward.
- Once the ball is thrown by the opposing team, if the person who is catching it is not able to catch the ball is then out and has to join the opposing team. If the person is able to catch the ball with one hand then the ball stays on that team.
- Each team takes turns throwing the ball at each other, with one person, one team at a time throwing the ball.
- This goes on until one team has three players out.
Modifications:
- For the ages 4 and 5 can have two opposing teams be within six feet of each other.
- If ball is too small or too large can use a ball that fits the palm of the child’s hands. As long as the child is able to catch the ball with one hand.
- Instead of having three players out on one team, can have two players out or all players on one team out if too easy.
Game 2
Title: One Foot Tag
Purpose statement:
The purpose is to develop cross lateral dominance by working on the opposite hand and opposite leg at the same time.
Target age: 4 to years old
Apparatus/equipment needed and environmental space/set-up:
- Cones to mark corners and borders of the box.
- Can use half of the of a badminton court or a quarter of the indoor elementary school basketball court.
- 4 to 5 people on one team.
- Each team is lined up horizontally facing the other team.
- Each team is lined up behind a line. And two teams are separated by a rectangular box the size of half a volleyball court, cones are used to mark the corners and borders of the box.
- The box represents the arena. The line behind the opposite ends of the box where each team is, is the safe zone.
Instructions:
- After lining up horizontally behind the line, one player from the opposing team plays rock scissors paper with the other opposing team’s player. The winner of that gets to decide if they are chasers or runners.
- Chasers role is to catch the runners by hopping on one foot while trying to tag their opponents with the opposite side hand.
- Runners role is to run away from chasers. And run into the Chaser’s safe zone without being tagged.
- After a runner is tagged by a chaser, that runner becomes a statue by standing still on the spot they were tagged in.
- The objective of the game is for runners to run to the opposite end without being caught by chasers.
- The game ends when there are no runners left to tag or when all runners have made it to the safe zone.
- A runner who has made it to the chasers safe zone can come back and try to free the other runners by touching their hand.
Modifications:
- Can increase the size of the box if too small.
- Can increase the number of players on each team.
Summary
Laterality is an internal awareness of the two sides in the body and that they are different (S. Bredin, 2020). Lateral preference occurs when a child, typically aged 4-6, chooses a dominant side to perform tasks with. Pure lateral dominance is when one uses the same body parts on one side of the body to perform tasks. Cross lateral dominance is when one uses parts of the body on different sides for different tasks. Lateral preference typically develops from ages 4-6, however studies have provided evidence of lateral preference developing until age 10, when one side is chosen but then switches to the other side. Laterality can be developed through a series of games like the ones listed above! File:Laterality (1).pptx
References
Alexandru, Moşoi Adrian, and Gugu Gramatopol Carmen. “Neuromuscular Control and Lateralization in the Game of Tennis.” Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 76, no. 76, Apr. 2013, pp. 553–558, 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.04.163.
Bredin,S (n.d.). 4.2 An Overview of the Fundamentals of Human Movement. Canvas UBC. Retrieved October 20, 2020, https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/60344/pages/4-dot-2-an-overview-of-the-fundamentals-of-human-movement?module_item_id=2445012
Ferrero, M., West, G., & Vadillo, M. A. (2017). Is crossed laterality associated with academic achievement and intelligence? A systematic review and meta-analysis. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/mv3wz
Hernáiz Driever, P, et al. “Laterality, Bimanual Interference and Short-Term Motor Learning of Fine Motor Movements in Childhood and Adolescence.” Neuropediatrics, vol. 43, no. 02, Apr. 2012, 10.1055/s-0032-1307061.
Loffing, F., Hagemann, N., Strauss, B., & MacMahon, C. (2016). Laterality in sports: Theories and applications. Academic Press.
Nelson, E. L., Campbell, J. M., & Michel, G. F. (2013). Unimanual to bimanual: Tracking the development of handedness from 6 to 24 months. Infant Behavior and Development, 36(2), 181-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2013.01.009
Schütz, L., & Schultheiss, O. C. (2020). Implicit motives, laterality, sports participation and competition in gymnasts. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00900
Souza, R. M., Coelho, D. B., & Teixeira, L. A. (2014). Modulation of manual preference induced by lateralized practice diffuses over distinct motor tasks: Age-related effects. Frontiers in Psychology, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01406
Spruijt, S., Jongsma, M. L., Van der Kamp, J., & Steenbergen, B. (2015). Predictive models to determine imagery strategies employed by children to judge hand laterality. PLOS ONE, 10(5), e0126568. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126568