Laterality in Sports

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Norbert Hagemann; Professor Dr. Bernd Strauß
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2007 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 47140947

The second project phase focusses on the extension of approaches discussed for explaining sidedness-dependent performance asymmetries on a motor, perceptual and cognitive level.Based on our recent findings, the aim is to continue the exploration of a left-handers advantage in interactive sports from diverse perspectives. On the one hand, here we consider arguments that relate to the currently most favoured account which states that left-handers enjoy a frequency-dependent advantage. Moreover, we also include selected aspects that were commonly cited to prove a left-handers innate superiority into our work program.First, within three reaction time experiments we will test the impact of functional hemispheric asymmetries on laterality effects in sports. Unlike previous research, our experiments take into account the demands and characteristics of interactive sports. We expect significant differences in latencies for reacting on left- vs. right-handed attacks as another meaningful explanation for a left-handers advantage particularly in close distance confrontational situations such as boxing.We showed repeatedly that the action intentions of left-handed as opposed to right-handed opponents are harder to predict (negative perceptual frequency effect hypothesis). In another part of the program we experimentally address to questions related to this finding. We assume that side-dependent strategies in an athletes visual information pick-up (i.e. visual search behaviour) as well as their in reliance on learned event probabilities may promote the reduced performance when anticipating the outcome of left-handed actions.Within a third experimental part we take on a key finding from the first project phase. Here we showed that, as to ball placement behaviour in tennis, players maintained their tactical preferences acquired through increased play against right-handers also when they were confronted with left-handed opponents, thus placing themselves in a position detrimental to performance. Tying in with these findings we test the prediction that players in badminton would also show asymmetries in motor expertise as a consequence of such behavioural preferences. In addition, we expect a positive correlation between the predicted side-dependent differences in sport-specific motor performance and aforementioned asymmetries in decision-making.Finally, a fourth part of this project deals with the continuation and completion of the extensive work initiated in the first project phase on the examination of kinematic differences between left- and right-handed actions. The data obtained from this work will also serve as basis for the creation of stimuli used in some of the experiments noted above.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Dirk Büsch