

      EHI: A Computerized Version of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory

                      Version 1, April 2004

                            Jeff Miller

Copyright @ 2004 by Jeff Miller <miller@psy.otago.ac.nz>.  All rights reserved.


Summary
-------
This program can be used to collect and score responses to the Edinburgh
Handedness Inventory, as published by Oldfield (1971). Each participant is
given a handedness score based on his or her responses to the items of the
inventory, and the individual's responses are stored in a file for further
tabulation by another program (e.g., Excel).  The EHI program runs under DOS or
Windows (in a cmd window), and it is free software.  The program requires the
user to enter responses with a mouse, so it can only be used if a mouse is
available (this may be tricky under DOS).


Permissions and Disclaimer
--------------------------
Permission is granted to anyone to use this software for any purpose. If you
use this software, it would be appreciated if you would cite or acknowledge it,
but that is not required.

DISCLAIMER: THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR ``AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO
EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING IN ANY WAY FROM THE
USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Redistribution of this program and its documentation is permitted provided that
the redistribution retains: (a) the above notice of authorship and copyright,
(b) the above permission statement and disclaimer; and (c) this redistribution
condition. 


Basic Operation:
----------------

To start the program in windows, you can double-click on EHI.EXE, or you can
open a cmd window and type EHI at the command prompt. You will then see a
form that looks approximately like the mock screen shown below:

==============================================================================
                                      +--------------------------------------+
Click on the SubjectID box to enter:  | SubjectID                            |
(Type ENTER key when done)            +--------------------------------------+

Please click on the circle next to your gender:   o Male   o Female
                               +------+
Click on the AGE box to enter: | Age  |  (Type ENTER key when done)
                               +------+
E d i n b u r g h   H a n d e d n e s s   I n v e n t o r y
Left   Right
 _ _    _ _   Writing
 _ _    _ _   Drawing
 _ _    _ _   Throwing
 _ _    _ _   Scissors
 _ _    _ _   Toothbrush
 _ _    _ _   Knife (without fork)
 _ _    _ _   Spoon
 _ _    _ _   Broom (upper hand)
 _ _    _ _   Striking match
 _ _    _ _   Opening box (lid)
 _ _    _ _   Which foot do you prefer to kick with?
 _ _    _ _   Which eye do you use when using only one eye?
                                                               +------+
Please click on this box when you are all done with this form: | DONE |
                                                               +------+
==============================================================================

You can enter information onto the form by pointing and clicking with the mouse.

First, you enter some preliminary information.

To enter the subject ID (which can be anything you want, or can be ignored
entirely), click on the "SubjectID" within the box.  These characters will then
disappear, and you can type any short string you like within the box. Type the
ENTER key when you are done with this box.

IMPORTANT: If nothing happens when you click with the mouse, look in the FAQ
below to find out how to turn off the Windows QuickEdit mode associated with
the window.

Next, enter your gender by typing on the small o to the left of Male or Female.
The selected gender will be marked with an X.

Next, enter your age by clicking on the "Age" within the box.  These characters
will then disappear, and you can type a number to indicate age in years. Type
the ENTER key when you are done with this box.

That brings you to the main form of the EHI.  People will need separate
instructions telling them how to fill out this form, because there is not
enough space to get everything on the screen.  The usual instructions are
something like this: "Please indicate your preferences in the use of hands in
the following activities by putting a check in the appropriate column. Where
the preference is so strong that you would never try to use the other hand,
unless absolutely forced to, put 2 checks. If in any case you are really
indifferent put and a check in both columns."  On this computerized form,
you put checks by clicking on one or more of the gray horizontal lines to the
left of each activity.

When the form has been filled out, you click the DONE button.  If the form
has been filled out correctly, you will get a score indicating your handedness
relative to others in the population.  (The responses and score will also be
written to the output file, and the program will stop.)  If the form has not
been filled out correctly, you will get some feedback about what needs to be
done to correct it.


Sample Instructions for People Completing the Inventory
-------------------------------------------------------
Here is an example of instructions that might be given to the people you
are asking to fill out the EHI.  I recommend having a printed version of
these instructions next to the computer for people to consult while
interacting with the program.

    INSTRUCTIONS:
    -------------
    Using the mouse, please indicate your preferences in the use of left versus
    right hands for each of the following activities. For activities where the
    preference is so strong that you would never attempt to use the other hand
    unless absolutely forced to, put TWO X's under the preferred hand by
    clicking with the mouse on the both of the lines to the left of the
    activity.  Where you have a weaker preference, just click to put one X
    under the preferred hand.  If you have no preference between hands, click
    to put one X under each hand.  If you change your mind, click on an X to
    erase it.


Common Problems (FAQ):
---------------------

o "I don't know how to open a cmd window under Windows."
   To open such a window, click on the START button, then select "Run".
   Where Windows tells you to "Type the name of a program, ...", just type
   the three characters "cmd" [not the quotes] and then click on the OK button.
   This will open a new window, most likely black with white characters.

o "Running EHI in a cmd window under Windows, the cursor moves but nothing
   happens when I click on something with the mouse."
   This is happening because the window has QuickEdit mode turned on.
   To turn off this mode, click on the little window symbol in the upper
   left-hand corner of the window.  A little menu will appear.  Select
   "Properties", and a number of options will be listed.  On the right-hand
   side of this options page, you will see a ticked box labelled QuickEdit mode.
   Click that box to turn off this mode, and then select OK.  When you get
   back to EHI, it will operate correctly.

o "Running EHI under DOS, nothing happens when I click on something with the
   mouse."
   Sorry, I can't help you.  See if you can find an old nerd to help you
   get a mouse driver loaded in your autoexec.bat file.


Storage of Information in Output File
-------------------------------------

By default, the information is stored in a file called EHI.Txt.  Each
successive participant is added onto the end of this file, so you can
accumulate a large number of participants over many runs of the program.

The output file has one line per participant, with different pieces of
information stored in tab-delimited columns.  Here is a summary of the
contents of each column.  Items marked * are described further below.

Column  Information
   1     Subject ID (any sequence of characters)
   2   * Total score based on the first 10 items of the inventory
   3   * Total score based on all 12 items of the inventory
   4     Participant's age
   5     Participant's gender (coded 0 = male, 1 = female)
 6-17  * Hand preference responses for each of the 12 activities on the form.
  18     Date when the form was filled out.
  19     Time when the form was filled out.
  20     MachineID (any sequence of characters)


*Further description for columns 2 & 3:
                                              NRight - NLeft
The total score is defined as:  total = 100 * --------------,  where
                                              NRight - NLeft

NRight is the total number of ticks for the right hand, and
NLeft  is the total number of ticks for the left hand.

Column 2 has this score computed over just the first 10 items of the
inventory (i.e., the usual version).  Column 3 has the score computed including
all 12 items.

*Further description for columns 6-17:  The responses for each activity are
coded from 1 (strongest left-handed preference) to 5 (strongest right-handed
preference).  Specifically, the codes are:
   1: Two ticks for left  hand
   2: One tick  for left  hand
   3: One tick  for each  hand
   4: One tick  for right hand
   5: Two ticks for right hand


Advanced Options
----------------
The program has a number of optional features that can be controlled via
command-line parameters when you invoke the program.  Here they are:

  1. Output file name.  By default the program writes its output to the file
     EHI.Txt.  If you would like it to write to a file with some other name
     such as "foo.bar", invoke the program with:
     C:> EHI -of foo.bar

  2. Single vs. multiple participants.  By default the program collects
     responses from a single participant and then halts.  If you would like
     to collect responses from multiple participants without restarting the
     program each time, invoke the program with:
     C:> EHI -ms
     When you invoke the program in this fashion, it will ask you at the end
     of each participant whether you want another participant or to quit.

  3. SubjectID.  By default the program puts the SubjectID box on the form.
     If you want, though, you can specify the SubjectID when you invoke the
     program, and in this case the SubjectID box is omitted from the form.
     C:> EHI -sid SomeOtherSubjectID
     Note that no spaces are allowed in SomeOtherSubjectID.

  4. MachineID.  By default the program writes "MachineID" into the last column
     of the output file. If you want, though, you can specify some other string
     of characters to be written in that column.  (I use this to keep track of
     which of several computers was used in collecting the form, which
     information I need for an obscure purpose.)
     C:> EHI -mid SomeOtherMachineID
     Note that no spaces are allowed in SomeOtherMachineID.
     If you have set a DOS variable called MachineName, the value of that
     variable will be used automatically for the MachineID.

  5. Cancel feedback display.  By default the program displays a feedback
     screen after each participant is done entering the form.  You can cancel
     that display by invoking the program with:
     C:> EHI -nf

There is an option to abort the program.  This option is available when the
program is running, but the option is completely hidden from the casual user
(intentionally).  When the user clicks on the DONE button after filling in the
form, the program checks various things to make sure the form has been filled
out correctly.  If the form is NOT correct, the computer displays a message
like this:

   Error: The form is not filled out correctly.
   [Some complaint about a problem with the form appears here.]
   Type ENTER to return to form, or call experimenter if you need help:

At this point it is possible to abort the testing of this participant
by typing the single character 6 and then the ENTER key.  If you do that,
the program goes on instead of returning to the form, the responses of this
participant are NOT saved to the output file and no feedback is given, etc.


Reference
---------

Oldfield, R. C. (1971). The assessment and analysis of handedness: The
Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia, 9, 97-113.


Author Information
------------------

This program was written by Jeff Miller, Department of Psychology, University
of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (email: miller@psy.otago.ac.nz). If you like the
program, please please please send me an email to tell me so. If you find a bug
or want to suggest a modification, you could also email me about that, I
suppose.


