Performing the hand laterality judgement task does not necessarily require motor imagery

When people judge the laterality of rotated hand images, that is they perform the laterality judgement task (LJT), they are thought to use motor imagery. However, recent studies have suggested that its completion does not necessarily require the use of motor imagery. In this study, we investigated whether and how many people preferentially use motor imagery to perform the LJT in 37 healthy adults. We assessed the presence of behavioural features associated with motor imagery at the individual level, namely, the linear angle–response time (RT) relationship and the biomechanical constraints effect in the LJT and in the same-different judgement task (SDJT), in which people are not thought to use motor imagery. We found that at most 50% of participants showed both behavioural features in the palmar view condition of the LJT. Moreover, this proportion did not differ from that in the dorsal view condition of the LJT or that in both view conditions of the SDJT. These results demonstrate that a motor imagery–based strategy is not universally and specifically used to perform the LJT. Therefore, previous results of the LJT, in particular, regarding the biomechanical constraints effect, should be reinterpreted in light of our findings.