Childrens' left-turning preference is not modulated by magical ideation.
Laterality
; 22(1): 90-104, 2017 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-27221655
ABSTRACT
The literature on human turning preferences is inconsistent. While the few studies with children below 14 years of age uniformly describe an overall left-turning (counterclockwise) tendency, a recent Internet study with more than 1500 adults found a right-sided (clockwise) bias. We set out to investigate spontaneous turning behaviour in children age 5-3 years and, based on neuropsychiatric work in adults, also explored a potential association with magical thinking. Findings indicated a clear left-turning preference, independent of a participant's sex and handedness. Whether a child responded a question about the existence of extrasensory communication in the affirmative or not was unrelated to direction and size of turning bias and lateral preference. Our results are consistent with a left-sided turning preference reported for children, but in opposition to the clockwise bias recently described in a large-scale study with adults. Whether they point to a maturational gradient in the preferred direction of spontaneous whole-body rotation or rather to a lack of comparability between measures used in observational versus Internet-based studies remains to be further investigated. Regarding a purported association between body turns and magical thinking, our study is preliminary, as only one single question was used to probe the latter.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Desempenho Psicomotor
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Pensamento
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Lateralidade Funcional
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Magia
Limite:
Adolescent
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Child
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Child, preschool
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Laterality
Assunto da revista:
NEUROLOGIA
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Suíça