& Right byzoe bingley
Hello my n ame
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Acknowledgments: My deep gratitude and appreciation to: The lovely tutors, who made it possible for me to design and create this book to the best of my abilities. My classmates, who make every class interesting and exciting. You're all very talented and I'm glad I got to be there to see it. My parents, Jodi and Russell Bingley; and my sisters, Jaimi, Darci, Xanthia and Willow, who are my biggest fans and the greatest supporters of my work. I couldn't ask for a better, or more caring, family of loving people. My reader and writer friends, who always give me feedback and encouragement. And to the wonderful team at Griffith University, who all believed in me, and who exercised their myriad of talent on behalf of this book and all the work that has gone into it. I couldn't have done it without you. And, to anyone else I might have missed. Thank you all so much.
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My research is based on the question,‘Can your creative skill be determined based on which hand you write with?’ Through readings and artworks, I have discovered that there has been lots of research done on this subject. Using this research, I’ve been able to get a more in-depth look at the origins of creativity and whether there is a link between it and what hand you write with. I want to be able to look at it from a different perspective. Being a left hander myself, I often see myself as a very creative person, and I’d like to discover if there is anyone else out there who feels that way too. The findings in the articles contained in my research are mostly presented from a purely medical perspective. They are fairly broad in terms of left handed vs. right handed and its effect on the way your brain functions as well as how your brain effects handedness. It also touches on handedness in relation to the evolution of mankind. Various different methods of research was conducted in the articles I researched to determine hand preference and hand skill. Hand preference and hand skill were examined in relation to sex and age from 3 1/2 to 50+ years of age. 617 males and 863 females were tested, aged 12–63 years. There was also a smaller sample of 122 males and 156 females, aged 6-15 years. I've discovered some interesting facts during my research, which will help me answer my question. One such fact is that left-handers are faster than right-handers. Differences for the preferred hand were less clear but still favoured left-handers in several comparisons, including creativity. Sex differences in L-R scores confirmed that females tend to be more dextral than males. This was true of righthanders but not of left-handers, as expected if the sex difference is due to stronger expression of the rs+ gene in females than males and if this gene is absent in the majority of left-handers.
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Methodologies My research is based on the question, ‘Can your creative skill be determined based on which hand you write with?’ Through readings and artworks, I have discovered that there has been lots of research done on this subject. Using this research, I’ve been able to get a more in-depth look at the origins of creativity and whether there is a link between it and what hand you write with. I want to be able to look at it from a different perspective. Being a left hander myself, I often see myself as a very creative person, and I’d like to discover if there is anyone else out there who feels that way too. I plan on taking a much simpler approach to my research by conducting a simple survey. It will be open for everyone to participate, but will include a range of people of different ages, genders, and obviously both left handed and right handed people. ◦ With the results of the survey, I plan on making a series of creative infographics which show the results of my survey. These infographics will then be put into a book which will contain other creative pieces, as well as fun activities for people to complete. The activities will be designed to test your skills using both your hands.
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Exemplars Chris McManus Chris McManus’ book, ‘Right Hand Left Hand’, looks at right handedness vs. left handedness from lots of different angles. It’s very broad and cover practically everything. It’ll be useful in providing some of the more personal aspects of my research. Why are most people right-handed? Why is the heart on the left-hand side of the body? Why does European writing go from left to right, while Arabic scripts go from right to left? And why are all muppets lefthanded? In this fascinating story of asymmetry, Chris McManus uses sources as diverse as the engravings of Rembrandt, the history of medicine, and particle physics to explain the vast repertoire of 'left-right' symbolism that permeates our everyday life.
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Mercedes Benz
This ad campaign done by Mercedes Benz called, ‘Left Brain, Right Brain’, is a great depiction of what my research is based on. It shows the left side of the brain (which controls the right hand) being the analytical side, and the right side of the brain (which controls the left hand) being the creative side. These beautifully irreverent print advertisements are like jewels of fine art. You have to look pretty closely to see the product logo. The text for the left brain reads: “I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorize. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.” And for the right brain: I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.
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These double page spreads, created by Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R Interactive Tel Aviv earlier this year, really struck me as out-of-the-box advertising for a car company. Wonderfully executed metaphors for the science and art that Mercedes espouses.
Results of my survey I am very happy with these survey results as they show many different age groups that participated. Although, nearly half of the people who completed the survey were aged between 18 and 24. As you can see, 80% of the participants were female. Only 20% were male. 85% of people who completed this survey were right handed. Only 15% were left handed.
Reflection
It's been difficult trying to look at this research from both sides. I am left handed, so I am finding it hard to remain un-bias when conducting my research.
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Processes info in a linear manner
Identify important details
Analytical
Move in a sequential order Info processing Project management Perception Workflow
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Problem Solving
Use logic to solve problems
Processes info holistically
See end result with clarity
Creative
Move randomly from task to task
Info processing Project management Perception
Use intuition to solve problems
Workflow Problem Solving
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Just 12 per cent of the world’s population are left handed – and twice as many men as women. 30 per cent of us are mixed-handed and switch hands during some tasks. Ambidextrous people can do any task equally well with either hand, but it’s exceptionally rare. Ambilevous or ambisinister are awkward with both hands.
Q W E
R T Y
On a QWERTY keyboard there are 1447 English words typed solely with the left hand, whilst only 187 are typed with the right hand. Left handers are more likely to have allergies, migraines and insomnia and are three times more likely to become alcoholics as the right side of the brain - which is dominant in left handers - has a lower tolerance to alcohol! Right handed people will earn 12 per cent more over their lifetimes than lefties. A study of 47,000 people in the UK and US suggest left-handers are at a significant disadvantage in the workplace. Harvard economist Joshua Goodman claimed “lefties have more emotional and behavioural problems, have more learning disabilities such as dyslexia, complete less schooling, and work in occupations requiring less cognitive skill.
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Christianity is strongly based towards the right hand. It is the right had that gives the blessing and makes the sign of the cross. The bible contains more than 100 favourable references to the right-hand and 25 unfavourable references to the left-hand.
If both parents of a child are left-handed, there is a 26% chance of that child being lefthanded. In 2006 a study of twins from 25,732 families suggest just 24 per cent had inherited it. Researchers recently located a gene they think controls handedness. Research in 2001 suggested lefties tend to die three years younger than righties although extremely left-handed people have a life expectancy that is just one year lower. Stone Age implements discovered seem equally divided between left and right and studies of cave drawings have indicated a preference for the left hand.
Left handers make especially good baseball players, tennis players, swimmers, boxers and fencers. Almost 40% of the top tennis players are lefties, including Rafael Nadal who has won 14 grand slam titles.
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Handedness is the dominance of one hand over the other, or the unequal distribution of fine motor skills between the left and right hands. It refers to the tendency of humans to be more dextrous or skilled with one hand over the other, or sometimes merely the preference of one hand over the other. It is usually used with reference to fine motor skills and the performance of manual tasks, particularly everyday activities such as writing, throwing, etc. Defined in yet another way, a person’s handedness is the hand used for activities that require a lot of practice and fine motor skills (e.g. writing), or the coordination of large muscle groups to carry out smooth actions (e.g. throwing a ball), both of which are activities employing many neurons in the brain and requiring tightly concentrated and specialized neurological wiring. Laterality is a similar but slightly broader concept, and refers to the general preference of one side of the body over the other (e.g. handedness, footedness, a preference for using the left or right eye or ear, etc).
TYPES OF HANDEDNESS
There are four or five main types of handedness: Right-handedness (or dextrality) - where people are more dextrous with, or primarily use, their right
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hand when performing manual tasks. This is the most common kind of handedness, covering up to 90% of the world’s population, depending on the definitions used, with perhaps 60% being strongly righthanded (performing ALL activities with the right hand). Left-handedness (or sinistrality) - where people are more dextrous with, or primarily use, their left hand when performing manual tasks. Around 10% (possibly more) of the world’s population falls into this category, although only perhaps 3% are strongly left-handed (performing ALL activities with the left hand). Mixed-handedness (or cross-dominance) - where people tend to perform different tasks better with different hands, e.g. someone may write with the left hand but throw balls with the right, etc. Depending on the definition, this is a less common (about 5-6% according to some, just 1% according to others), but by no means rare, phenomenon. However, if defined more loosely as someone who does not perform ALL activities with one hand or the other (i.e weak-handedness, as opposed to strong handedness), mixed-handedness is much more common, perhaps in the region of 35%. Ambidexterity - where people are able to perform any task equally well with either hand. True ambidexterity is quite rare (some suggest about 1%, others a vanishingly small percentage), and many nominally ambidextrous people actually tend to sway towards one or other dominant hand. Many natural left-handers may learn to become almost ambidextrous out of necessity in a world geared more towards right-handers.
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JUST SOME STATS
The prevalence of left-handedness varies significantly - anywhere between 2% and 30% - reflecting the uncertainty and inconsistencies that are distinctive in the defining handedness, but also sometimes the biases and unreliability of the sources. Best estimates for left-handedness in the open-minded cultures of the world (roughly North America and Western Europe) is around 12%. In more formal cultures that stress conformity, such as Asian, Muslim and Latin American countries, the rates tend to be much lower. For example, Korea (2%), Japan (3%) and Taiwan (5%) have the lowest levels of left-handedness. This reflects the discouragement of left-handedness that still exists in these countries. Overall, a rough figure of about 10% seems possible. However, it could be argued that the statistics from more open-minded and less orthodox societies like North America may in fact give a “truer� and less distorted indication of the relative numbers of left-handedness, as they are less influenced by extra social and political factors.
NATURE VS. NURTURE
There is always a certain amount of pressure from society to conform to the norms, behaviours and cultural conventions of the majority. Since most people are right-handed, this may lead parents or teachers, to encourage children to be right-handed, and in this way the dominance of right-handedness continues.
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Such theories assume that societal and environmental pressures can dominate over any genetic or biological tendencies - that nurture wins over nature - and also that handedness is, in fact, a behaviour. The statistics around left-handedness in countries where there is strong social pressure to adhere to right-handed norms (e.g. Taiwan, China, Japan). However, it is by no means sure that handedness can be dictated by parental and societal behaviour and practices. For instance,John Santrock, in his 2008 book Motor, Sensory and Perceptual Development, reports that the handedness of adopted children is actually more likely to be related to that of their biological parents than that of their adoptive parents, which suggests that parental role models may not in fact teach handedness. Additionally, nearly 20% of identical twins, who are presumably brought up in a very similar way, have been shown to have different hand preferences.
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[left] t f Le
e v i t c e adj
ated on or near c o l r o to, g n i t or thing that is a l e n o s r 1. of, r e fap o st when the e e d i w s e e h h t rd t th (opposed to righ a w o t t). turned g nor n i c a f is subject l letter) of or a t i p a ial c t i n i n ical Left; having e t i l o p 2. (oft o the t politics. n i g n i s g n w o l e i be al v c i d a r r liberal o
noun
ething that is on m o s r ide o s t f e l 3. the side. the left
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Right
[rahyt ] adjective, righter, righte st cordance with
1. in ac , and just: rig what is go ht con proper duct. od,
nformity wit 2. in co tandard h fact, reas on or princ es iple: co , truth, or som solution; the rig ht ht ans rrect: the rig wer. ect in judgement, o 3. corr r acti on. ng or appropr 4. fitti t thing at t iate; suitab le h he righ the rig t tim : to say e.
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Smile #1
Smile #2
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Quickly say out loud whether each hand is pointing up, or down. Heres the difficult part. Look at these hands again and say out loud whether each one is a right hand or a left hand.
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Something about the words "right" and "left" makes them more difficult to use than, say, "up" and "down", or "above" and "below". Up and down is easy - just hold something in the air and let go. Gravity does the rest. But what about left and right?
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Fin.