Jose Bautista

Handedness and Accidents with Injury

As evidence for the hypothesis on the claim of reduced longevity for left-handers, Coren in 1989 reported data which suggested that left-handers were 1.89 times more likely to report injuries which required medical attention. This left-handed group included both left- and mixed-handed individuals. To clarify the results of his study, we repeated in part Corens study but defined handedness so that groups of right-, mixed-, and left-handed individuals were considered. In contrast to Corens data, we found that right- and left-handers did not differ significantly in the frequency with which they reported having experienced accidents with injury and that mixed-handers reported being significantly more likely to have had an injury-accident than either right- or left-handers. These data underscore the need to consider mixed-handedness as a separate group in studies of this type.

Ethnicity, Sleep Hygiene Knowledge, and Sleep Hygiene Practices

We tested the mean differences in scores on Sleep Hygiene Knowledge and on Sleep Hygiene Practices among four ethnic groups of university students (N = 963). We computed significant main effects for ethnicity for both of these variables. Primarily the results reflect that the Euro-American students scored significantly higher on both scales than each of the other three groups.

Do right-handers live longer? An updated assessment of baseball player data.

In support of the argument that left-handedness is a marker for decreased survival fitness, in 1991 Coren and Halpern gave considerable weight to the results of their 1988 study in which right-handed baseball players were described as having Lived about eight months longer than their left-handed peers. In their 1993 unsuccessful attempt to replicate this study, Fudin and colleagues cited certain difficulties with the sources of these data that led them to recommend a comprehensive third study which included only reliable data from the two current editions of the major sources of information on Major League baseball players, i.e., the 1993 editions of The Baseball Encyclopedia and Total Baseball. Following this suggestion, we measured the life spans of ail baseball players, i.e., right-, left-, and mixed-handed players, for whom reliable data were available (N = 5441) and found that the relationship between handedness and longevity was not significant. Unlike Halpern and Coren we noted that right-handed players could be described as having lived about eight months less than their left-handed peers.

Consistency of Hand Use and Accidents with Injury

In this study, we examined the relationship between the consistency of hand use and the self-reported incidence of accidents with injuries which required medical care in groups of university students (n = 23 for each group). To do this, we adopted a scoring procedure for the Briggs-Nebes Handedness Scale that permitted us to classify individuals as consistent or inconsistent in the use of their hands. We observed that the inconsistent group was 6.12 times more likely to have experienced accidents with injury that required medical care than the consistent group. These data have implications for the literature on handedness classification and accidents. Collectively, these limited data underscore the need to pay attention to the consistency of hand use in research on handedness, health, and longevity.

Rem Sleep Deprivation Does Not Increase the Sexual Behaviors of Male Rats

Using several measures of sexual activity, 24 male and 30 female Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to a pretreatment test and 3 posttests (immediate and Recovery Days 4 and 7) following REM sleep deprivation in a water tank. With careful controls, sexual activity was not significantly affected by the sleep treatments. Data do not support motivational hypotheses.

Handedness and the Vividness of Dreams

We provided a constructive replication of a recently published paper by measuring the relationship between handedness and recall of vivid dreams. To do this we asked groups of right- (N = 174), mixed- (N = 16) and left-handed (N = 13) university students to respond to a dream scale. Our data were consistent with those of the recent study in question in that we demonstrated that left-handers were significantly more likely to recall types of dreams that classified as a vivid. These data seem consistent with the profile of right hemispheric talent that is thought to characterize left-handers.

BOUNDARIES AND HANDEDNESS

The responses of 116 university students were used to assess a possible relation between scores on Hartmanns Boundary Questionnaire and the Briggs-Nebes Handedness Scale. Consistent with our prediction, the mean handedness score of the students with thin boundaries was significantly skewed in the direction of mixed-handedness.

Arousability and Eye Color: A Test of Worthy's Hypothesis:

As a test of the hypothesis that eye color is related to reactivity, we measured the relationships between scores on the Arousal Predisposition Scale and two measures of eye color. Our data did not support this hypothesis.

REM-sleep deprivation and the food-consumption patterns of male rats

To clarify ambiguities in earlier studies and to provide a test of the hypothesis that REM-sleep deprivation potentiates primary drive-linked behaviors, the food intake of 15 male rats was monitored continuously for 10 consecutive 24-h periods. Relative to the controls, the REM-deprived animals did not show a significant increase in food intake during the treatment period. However, during this period, these animals showed a pronounced change in their light:dark-period food-intake pattern that persisted into the recovery period. The implications of these data for existing theory and for certain ambiguities in the relevant literature are discussed.

The effects of REM sleep deprivation on the metabolic rates of male rats

To confirm earlier speculation and to replicate the results of a single study, the effect of REM sleep deprivation on the oxygen consumption of male rats was monitored over a 10-day period. The data suggested an inverse relationship between these variables during the treatment period. However, we also identified variables for future research, which contribute ambiguity to the interpretation of this relationship.