How Motor Dexterity Are Used in Psychological Evaluation?

Motor-dexterity is an important aspect of individual performance and thus they are widely used by psychologists especially child psychologists to assess the abilities and competence of the child. In various other types of psychological evaluations such as neurological psychological assessments, motor dexterity tests are applied. This has also given rise to a new realm of study called neuropsychology.

To be able to determine the intellectual capacity and locomotor abilities of a person, it is important to determine to carry out certain motor dexterity assessment tests. These tests are now widely used both by educational institutions such as schools to assess the exact individual training needs of their pupils. At the same time, these tests also find wide application in companies and businesses that are looking to employ personnel.

Some of the easiest motor dexterity tests involve some simple physical tasks that require cognitive thinking, quick understanding and hand eye coordination. one such task involved the participant to identify signs of frustration while performing the task. A common way to determine the motor-dexterity of a person is by looking for signs of frustration. 

Finding out the Dominant Hand

One can start by using a pair of rolled up socks or any other rolled up piece of garment or soft cloth. Even a fabric ball can be taken for the purpose of this experiment. The person conducting the test can then make a hoop using his or her arms and ask the participant to throw the fabric ball into this hoop. One needs to understand that the objective of this test is not to see how the participant fares in throwing the fabric ball, neither is it important to make note of how well the person tosses the ball inside the hoop. The objective is to simply note which hand the person uses to be able to identify the dominant hand.

There is usually a secondary aspect of this test. After completing the hoop test, the participant is then encouraged to write a simple test. Again, don’t let the writing test fool you into thinking that the test is being conducted to check out the handwriting or other cognitive abilities of the participant. The requirement is to identify which hand the person uses more readily than the other. This can help you in ascertaining the dominant hand of the individual and go a long way in determining whether the person is of optimal motor dexterity.

How to Determine If the Participant is Ambi-dextrous?

Most of the participants taking part in this motor dexterity experiment have been found to use their right hand and some use their left while there are many people who can surprisingly work with both hands while maintaining an optimal quality of performance and efficiency.

The scientific term bestowed to such an ability is "Ambidextrous". However, despite being ambidextrous the person still might have a dominant hand. The dominant hand is not the hand that a person just simply may prefer to use over the other hand. It is the hand which is better coordinated with the neurological impulses in the person's system. In case of an ambidextrous person, it may be quite difficult to identify which hand can be called the dominant one and there are several approaches that a person can take to identify the dominant hand. Here the person can start off by using both hands to write a sentence. The person can start with writing from the left hand then followed by making an attempt with the right hand. Here, it is upon the person conducting the test or the observer to ascertain the dominant hand.

Challenge in Determining Ambi-dexterity

After observing the efficiency of each hand, it is up to the observer to either go with his or her own findings about which one deems fit as the dominant hand or the observer can also ask the participant about which hand he or she is more comfortable with and which hand they prefer. Different psychologists and evaluators like to take a different approach to solving this problem. It can be quite tough to evaluate the dominant hand for ambidextrous people however, it is important to determine the right one after minute observation.

However, even after detailed observation and evaluation, if it still does not seem possible for the observer to be able to find out the dominant hand, it is prudent to state in the test record that the person has mixed dexterity. It is important for the observed to record their observation along with the particulars on a data sheet. Motor-dexterity tests are often used in psychological studies for identifying the lapses in locomotor performance of individuals especially in school children.

Determining the Dominant and for the Ambi-dextrous

One of the other more popular ways of determining the dominant hand is through an evaluation method commonly known as "prick the mug" method. This study requires the person to insert toothpicks in a mug with both hands one after the other. Simply by comparing the time taken in performing the two different tasks, the person will be able to identify the dominant hand.

Owing to the many complexities and profundities involved in finding out about the dominant hand as well as about the other aspects of motor dexterity particular to each individual, it can be quite difficult for the students of the subject to understand the different nuances of the motor-dexterity. The subject also has many layers and folds. Motor dexterity tests are widely used by psychologists around the world to be able to mark the exact levels of competence for the individual. This can also help in deciding the level of intervention required by the person. It has specific uses in child psychology which is gaining increased relevance in the contemporary education system which focuses on the individual strengths and weaknesses of the pupils.

The university students studying discipline related to motor dexterity may struggle to find case study findings about the subject and could need some assignment help. There are several online physics assignment help providers that can help the students put together high quality assignments on the subject with relevant case data and history. Reach out to My Assignment Services and find out in what ways we can provide academic assistance to you!