Study of laterality in four-to-six-year-old preschool children at Benedito de Souza public school of the municipality of Maringá, state of Paraná

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the four-to-six-year-old preschool children’s development of laterality of the public school district of the municipality of Maringá. This study was a cross-sectional developmental research. The target population comprised fifty-six male and female preschool children. The research was conducted by means of a test of laterality based on Vayer (1982), Fonseca (1988) and Condemarin et al. (1989) and a test of velocity proposed by Stambak, apud Vayer (1982). The results showed: regarding the definition of laterality, it was observed that maturity seems to be the main factor which determinates it, and it was also observed that such a definition is higher in five-year-old children than in four-year-old children. A clear predominance of right-handed characteristic was evident in children aged five and six, though in four-year-old female children the definition was more prominet. Instability, impulsiveness and bad motor coordination were observed in five-year-old children as well as the importance of practical experience in the preschool children’s definition process of laterality.