They discovered that in general right- and left-handed signers respond faster when they were watching a right-handed signer.
However, left-handed signers responded more quickly to complex two-handed signs made by signers who ‘led’ with their left hand. Similarly, right-handed signers reacted more swiftly to two-handed signs from fellow right-handers.
PhD student Freya Watkins and Dr. Robin Thompson published their research in the journal Cognition (April 2017).
Dr Robin Thompson commented: “Had all signers performed better to right-handed input, it would suggest that how signers produce their own signs is not important for understanding. This is because right-handed signers are most common and signers are most used to seeing right-handed signs.