Young adults exhibit a small asymmetry of visuospatial attention that favours the left side of space relative to the right (
pseudoneglect
). However, it remains unclear whether this leftward bias is ...maintained, eliminated or shifted rightward in older age. Here we present two meta-analyses that aimed to identify whether adults aged ≥50 years old display a group-level spatial attention bias, as indexed by the
line bisection
and the
landmark
tasks. A total of 69 datasets from 65 studies, involving 1654 participants, were analysed. In the meta-analysis of the line bisection task (
n
= 63), no bias was identified for studies where the
mean age
was ≥50, but there was a clear leftward bias in a subset where all
individual participants
were aged ≥50. There was no moderating effect of the participant’s age or sex, line length, line position, nor the presence of left or right cues. There was a small publication bias in favour of reporting rightward biases. Of note, biases were slightly more leftward in studies where participants had been recruited as part of a stand-alone older group, compared to studies where participants were recruited as controls for a clinical study. Similarly, no spatial bias was observed in the meta-analysis of the landmark task, although the number of studies included was small (
n
= 6). Overall, these results indicate that over 50s maintain a group-level leftward bias on the line bisection task, but more studies are needed to determine whether this bias can be modulated by stimulus- or state-dependent factors.
The cerebral lateralization of written language has received very limited research attention in comparison to the wealth of studies on the cerebral lateralization of oral language. The purpose of the ...present study was to further our understanding of written language lateralization, by elucidating the relative contribution of language and motor functions. We compared written word generation with a task that has equivalent visuomotor demands but does not include language: the repeated drawing of symbols. We assessed cerebral laterality using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD), a non‐invasive, perfusion‐sensitive neuroimaging technique in 23 left‐ and 31 right‐handed participants. Findings suggest that the linguistic aspect of written word generation recruited more left‐hemispheric areas during writing, in right‐handers compared to left‐handers. This difference could be explained by greater variability in cerebral laterality patterns within left‐handers or the possibility that the areas subserving language in left‐handers are broader than in right‐handers. Another explanation is that the attentional demands of the more novel symbol copying task (compared to writing) contributed more right‐hemispheric activation in right‐handers, but this could not be captured in left‐handers due to ceiling effects. Future work could investigate such attentional demands using both simple and complex stimuli in the copying condition.
ABSTRACT
The term learning styles (LS) describes the notion that individuals have a preferred modality of learning (i.e., vision, audition, or kinesthesis) and that matching instruction to this ...modality results in optimal learning. During the last decades, LS has received extensive criticism, yet they remain a virtual truism within education. One of the major strands of criticism is the fact that only a handful of studies have systematically put the LS assumptions to the test. In this study, we aimed to explore whether learners who are visual types will be better at learning sign‐words (i.e., ecologically valid stimuli) compared to auditory and kinesthetic types. Ninety‐nine volunteers (67 females, mean age = 28.66 years) naive to Greek Sign Language (GSL) were instructed to learn 20 GSL sign‐words. The volunteers further completed two LS questionnaires (i.e., the Barsch Learning Styles Inventory and the Learning Channels Inventory) and they also reported what their LS they believed was. No evidence of a difference in learning sign‐words among individuals with different LS (as identified by either of the LS questionnaires or by direct self‐report) was found, neither using a frequentist nor using a Bayesian approach to data analysis. Moreover, inconsistencies between the way participants were classified based on the different measures and direct self‐report were detected. These findings add further support to the criticism of the LS theory and its use in educational settings. We suggest that research and practice resources should be allocated to evidence‐based approaches.
LAY ABSTRACT
Τhe notion of LS posits that individuals have a preferred modality of learning and that presenting to‐be‐learned material in this modality results in optimal learning. Here, we report a systematic study testing this notion. The study uses novel and ecologically valid stimuli, namely sign‐words, as the to‐be‐learned material. We hypothesized that individuals with a visual LS will be at an advantage when learning sign‐words, a hypothesis we failed to confirm.
Following a series of seminal studies in the 1980s, left or mixed hand preference is widely thought to be associated with a larger corpus callosum than right handedness, influencing the ...interpretation of findings and various theories related to interhemispheric processing, brain lateralisation, and hand preference. Recent reviews, however, find inconsistencies in the literature and cast doubt on the existence of such an association. The present study was conducted to clarify the relationship between hand preference and callosal morphology in a series of meta-analyses. For this purpose, articles were identified via a search in PubMed and Web Of Science databases. Studies reporting findings relating to handedness (assessed as hand preference) and corpus-callosum morphology in healthy participants were considered eligible. On the basis of a total of
k
= 24 identified studies and databases, random-effects meta-analyses were conducted considering four different group comparisons: (a) dominantly right- (dRH) and left-hand preference (dLH), (b) consistent right (cRH) and non-cRH preference, (c) cRH with mixed-hand preference (MH), and (d) cRH with consistent left-hand hand preference (cLH). For none of these meta-analyses did we find a significant effect of hand preference, and narrow confidence intervals suggest that the existence of population effects larger than 1% explained variance could be excluded. For example, considering the comparison of dRH and dLH (
k
= 14 studies; 1910 dRH and 646 dLH participants) the mean effect size was Hedge’s
g
= 0.016 (95% confidence interval: − 0.12 to 0.15; explained variance: < 0.001%). Thus, the common practice of assuming an increase in callosal connectivity based on mixed or left hand preference is likely invalid.
Human lateral preferences, such as handedness and footedness, have interested researchers for decades due to their pronounced asymmetries at the population level. While there are good estimates on ...the prevalence of handedness in the population, there is no large-scale estimation on the prevalence of footedness. Furthermore, the relationship between footedness and handedness still remains elusive. Here, we conducted meta-analyses with four different classification systems for footedness on 145,135 individuals across 164 studies including new data from the ALSPAC cohort. The study aimed to determine a reliable point estimate of footedness, to study the association between footedness and handedness, and to investigate moderating factors influencing footedness. We showed that the prevalence of atypical footedness ranges between 12.10% using the most conservative criterion of left-footedness to 23.7% including all left- and mixed-footers as a single non-right category. As many as 60.1% of left-handers were left-footed whereas only 3.2% of right-handers were left-footed. Males were 4.1% more often non-right-footed compared to females. Individuals with psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders exhibited a higher prevalence of non-right-footedness. Furthermore, the presence of mixed-footedness was higher in children compared to adults and left-footedness was increased in athletes compared to the general population. Finally, we showed that footedness is only marginally influenced by cultural and social factors, which play a crucial role in the determination of handedness. Overall, this study provides new and useful reference data for laterality research. Furthermore, the data suggest that footedness is a valuable phenotype for the study of lateral motor biases, its underlying genetics and neurodevelopment.
As people age, they tend to spend more time indoors, and the colours in their surroundings may significantly impact their mood and overall well‐being. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence ...to provide informed guidance on colour choices, irrespective of age group. To work towards informed choices, we investigated whether the associations between colours and emotions observed in younger individuals also apply to older adults. We recruited 7393 participants, aged between 16 and 88 years and coming from 31 countries. Each participant associated 12 colour terms with 20 emotion concepts and rated the intensity of each associated emotion. Different age groups exhibited highly similar patterns of colour–emotion associations (average similarity coefficient of .97), with subtle yet meaningful age‐related differences. Adolescents associated the greatest number but the least positively biased emotions with colours. Older participants associated a smaller number but more intense and more positive emotions with all colour terms, displaying a positivity effect. Age also predicted arousal and power biases, varying by colour. Findings suggest parallels in colour–emotion associations between younger and older adults, with subtle but significant age‐related variations. Future studies should next assess whether colour–emotion associations reflect what people actually feel when exposed to colour.
Although very often teachers show a great interest in introducing findings from the field of neuroscience in their classrooms, there is growing concern about the lack of academic instruction on ...neuroscience on teachers' curricula because this has led to a proliferation of neuromyths. We surveyed 479 undergraduate (mean age = 19.60 years,
= 2.29) and 94 postgraduate students (mean age = 28.52 years,
= 7.16) enrolled in Departments of Education at the University of Thessaly and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. We used a 70-item questionnaire aiming to explore general knowledge on the brain, neuromyths, the participants' attitude toward neuroeducation as well as their reading habits. Prospective teachers were found to believe that neuroscience knowledge is useful for teachers (90.3% agreement), to be somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to the brain (47.33% of the assertions were answered correctly), but to be less well informed when it comes to neuroscientific issues related to special education (36.86% correct responses). Findings further indicate that general knowledge about the brain was found to be the best safeguard against believing in neuromyths. Based on our results we suggest that prospective teachers can benefit from academic instruction on neuroscience. We propose that such instruction takes place in undergraduate courses of Departments of Education and that emphasis is given in debunking neuromyths, enhancing critical reading skills, and dealing with topics relevant to special education.
Dealing with psychological and study skill difficulties can present a challenge for both Higher Education (HE) students, who suffer from them, but also for HE Institutions and their support services. ...Alternative means of support, such as online interventions, have been identified as cost-effective and efficient ways to provide inclusive support to HE students, removing many of the barriers to help-seeking as well as promoting mental health and wellbeing.
The current case study initially outlines the rigorous approach in the development of one such online intervention system, MePlusMe. It further highlights key features that constitute innovative delivery of evidence-based psychological and educational practice in the areas of mental health, promotion of wellbeing, support of mood and everyday functioning, and study-skills enhancement.
This case study aims to present the innovative features of MePlusMe in relation to current needs and evidence-basis. Finally, it presents future directions in the evaluation, assessment, and evidence of the fitness-for-purpose process.
•Systematic review of 36 studies (66,108 individuals) measuring full IQ scores.•Three sets of meta-analyses including data on 20,442 individuals.•Marginal differences in mean IQ scores detected ...between right- and left-handers.•Negligible difference in favor of right-handers.
The relationship between intelligence and handedness remains a matter of debate. The present study is a systematic review of 36 studies (totaling 66,108 individuals), which have measured full IQ scores in different handedness groups. Eighteen of those studies were further included in three sets of meta-analyses (totaling 20,442 individuals), which investigated differences in standardized mean IQ scores in (i) left-handers, (ii) non-right-handers, and (iii) mixed-handers compared to right-handers. The bulk of the studies included in the systematic review reported no differences in IQ scores between left- and right-handers. In the meta-analyses, statistically significant differences in mean IQ scores were detected between right-handers and left-handers, but were marginal in magnitude (d=−0.07); the data sets were found to be homogeneous. Significance was lost when the largest study was excluded. No differences in mean IQ scores were found between right-handers and non-right-handers as well as between right-handers and mixed-handers. No sex differences were found. Overall, the intelligence differences between handedness groups in the general population are negligible.
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