HANDEDNESS IN ISRAEL

The handedness scores in 1171 Israeli high school students were found to be independent of ethnic origin, socio-economic class and reading direction. Contrary to other reports, sex differences were found neither between the mean handedness scores nor between the distribution of scores. The trends were in the expected direction-males were slightly less right handed than females-which was probably due to a higher percentage of males in the weak right handed range. The Israeli distribution was found to be significantly different from Taiwanese [1] and British [2] populations reported in the literature. Cultural and genetic factors giving rise to the differences in the distribution are discussed. © 1979.