Left- and right-handed children's drawing performance: Is there any difference?

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of hand preference on children's drawing development. An equal number of left- and right-handed children (N = 182), aged 7 to 12 years were asked to complete four different drawing tasks. During the drawing process, directionality of horizontal, vertical, and circular strokes as well as sequencing was recorded. Each drawing was scored according to the developmental stage to which is corresponded. It was found that drawing performance improved with age, irrespectively of hand preference and sex. In other words, left- and right-handers' drawing performance across the four tasks was not found to differ significantly. The only consistent difference between the two groups involved was in the production of horizontal lines. The results are discussed in terms of implications for questions about the lack of differences in left- and right-handed children's drawing performance. © 2004 Psychology Press Ltd.