Preferential reaching into hemispace: An examination of performance, preference, and task complexity

The present study attempted to develop a performance measure of hand prefer ence that considered task complexity. Right-handers were observed for hand selection responses to various unimanual tasks ranging in difficulty from s imple (e.g., toss) to complex (e.g., position) in positions of right-and le ft-hemispace. Results revealed that participants used their preferred hands far more often in both ipsilateral and contralateral hemispace. Contrary t o previous research, however, preferred hand use did not increase with task complexity. The implications of these findings for future research investi gating the relationship between hand preference and performance are discuss ed. (C) 1999 Academic Press.