cottrell@sdcsla.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) (08/19/85)
In article <1080@ihlpg.UUCP> jeand@ihlpg.UUCP (AMBAR) writes: > >On a related topic, has anyone noted a high correlation between left-handedness >and 'intelligence' (as measured/used/defined by schools and so forth)? As >I think about it, most of the left-handed people I know are smarter than >average. > An aquaintance who is a psycholinguist found in an experiment that people who had left-handers in their family (but were themselves right-handed) averaged 150 milliseconds per word faster reading time, and the variance was very small; all of these people were faster than the fastest "normal" right-hander. This is an incredibly large effect in psycholinguistic circles. This was what he found in one experiment, and I don't know if he followed it up, or whether anyone else has found related results, so take it with a grain of salt. My fiancee, who has left-handed relatives, reads much faster than me, but I'm a slow reader anyway. Anyone else heard of anything related? gary cottrell cottrell@nprdc (ARPA) Institute for Cognitive Science sdcsvax!sdcsla!cottrell (USENET) UCSD
mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (08/27/85)
>An aquaintance who is a psycholinguist found in an experiment that people who >had left-handers in their family (but were themselves right-handed) averaged >150 milliseconds per word faster reading time, and the variance was very >small; all of these people were faster than the fastest "normal" right-hander. >This is an incredibly large effect in psycholinguistic circles. This was >what he found in one experiment, and I don't know if he followed it up, or >whether anyone else has found related results, so take it with a grain of >salt. My fiancee, who has left-handed relatives, reads much faster than me, >but I'm a slow reader anyway. Could you check those figures? Even reading at a slow 300 wpm allows only 200 msec per word, and lots of people read twice that fast. How could these people average 150 msec/word faster? They'd have to be reading backwards! -- Martin Taylor {allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt {uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt
cottrell@sdcsla.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) (08/30/85)
In article <1664@dciem.UUCP> mmt@dciem.UUCP (PUT YOUR NAME HERE) writes: > >>An aquaintance who is a psycholinguist found in an experiment that people who >>had left-handers in their family (but were themselves right-handed) averaged >>150 milliseconds per word faster reading time, and the variance was very >>small; all of these people were faster than the fastest "normal" right-hander. >Could you check those figures? Even reading at a slow 300 wpm allows >only 200 msec per word, and lots of people read twice that fast. How >could these people average 150 msec/word faster? They'd have to be >reading backwards! >-- > >Martin Taylor Sorry, you must be right. I can't recall the exact figures, only that a) the difference was "large" b) the left-hand-in-family did not just *on average* do better, they were almost *all* better than the others. gary cottrell cottrell@nprdc (ARPA) Institute for Cognitive Science sdcsvax!sdcsla!cottrell (USENET) UCSD
reid@dciem.UUCP (David Brake c/o Reid Ellis) (09/11/85)
Just to put in my 2 cents. I am left handed (except in some sports).
I am also a very fast reader (or so I am told). I read better than
300 baud. One man's corroboration.
David Brake
I know nothing, so nobody is to blame for anything I say...
--
--
Reid Ellis "Roads? Where we're going, who needs _roads_?"
{If!you!want!to!know!where!I!live,!look!at!the!header..}CJC@psuvm.BITNET (09/21/85)
The original suggestion was that left-handers and people closely related to
left-handers read much faster.
I am by far the fastest reader I know (measured in number of books read in an
evening) and I am completely right-handed, as is all my family.
--Carolyn J. Clark
Bitnet: CJC at PSUVM
UUCP : {allegra, akgua, ihnp4}!psuvax!CJC@PSUVM.BITNET
cottrell@sdcsla.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) (09/25/85)
In article <2267CJC@psuvm> CJC@psuvm.BITNET writes: >The original suggestion was that left-handers and people closely related to >left-handers read much faster. > >I am by far the fastest reader I know (measured in number of books read in an >evening) and I am completely right-handed, as is all my family. Actually, as the original poster, the suggestion (by a Great Person in the Field, who shall remain nameless, suggested by some of his/her data, which may or may not have replicated, I just wanted to hear if anyone else had noticed, ready for the rest of the main clause?) was only that people with left handers in the family (uncles, etc.) but who themselves were *right* handed, read faster than right handers who don't have left handers in their family. Sorry for any confusion. gary cottrell cottrell@nprdc (ARPA) Institute for Cognitive Science sdcsvax!sdcsla!cottrell (USENET) UCSD