Bilateral Transfer Case Study

Regarding the direction of transfer, this study indicates more positive transfer in case of preferred to non-preferred hand than in case of non-preferred to preferred hand in young adult population when considering speed and accuracy together as well as in terms of speed but not in terms of accuracy. Positive bilateral transfer between two arms can be supported by the concept of Intermanual Crosstalk, which incorporates the notion that there are two motor controllers generating motor commands, one for each arm (Marteniuk & Mackenzie, 1980; Bagesteiro & Sainburg, 2002). Interference and transfer of learning between the arms are thought to occur because of an interaction of the motor commands and/or feedback signals between the arms (crosstalk),

Thus, this study suggests that left-handed participants with a clear pattern of functional lateralization do not differ from right-handers in terms of bilateral transfer of motor skill. This finding is substantiated by the findings of Kumar & Mandal (2005). However, previous literature (e.g. Potter & Graves, 1988) reports superior inter hemispheric transfer of information in left-handers than in right-handers. Some investigators explain this finding by referring to the observation that corpus callosum is large in left than in right-handers (Driesen & Raz, 1995). Researches on the lateralization of brain activity during learning has shown a dominance of the left hemisphere, regarding learning sequences, planning and motor control, independent of the side of practice ( e.g., Grafton, Hazeltine & Ivry, 2002). A positive explanation for the absence of this trend in this study would relate to the easy understanding of the motor task (the cognitive explanation of transferring important information related to the goal when performing the task) and to the simple neuromuscular demand placed by the task (simple movements and little degrees of freedom). Consequently, probably, this little motor and cognitive task complexity means not difficult to bring out the

Trait anxiety is a personality disposition that describes a person’s tendency to perceive situations as threatening, and hence to experience state anxiety in stressful situations (Gaudry, Vagg & Spielberger, 1975). Trait anxiety is not observed directly, but is expressed as state anxiety when stress is experienced (Reiss, 1997, p204). Spielberger drew an analogy with energy: trait anxiety would be equivalent to potential energy, and state to kinetic energy (Spielberger, Gorsuch & Luschene, 1970