The Ontogeny of Lateralized Behavior in Nonhuman Primates with Special Reference to Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Abstract

The development of hand preference and other lateralized behaviors has received a considerable amount of attention by a number of investigators (Hahn, 1987; Molfese & Segalowitz, 1988). Understanding the ontogeny of hand preference is important from a both a developmental and a comparative perspective because of the differing theoretical perspectives utilized in explaining “handedness” in its adult form. For example, in the review articles on nonhuman primate handedness by MacNeilage, Studdert-Kennedy, and Lindblom (1987), as well as Fagot and Vauclair (1991), the testing of immature or younger subjects are cited as possible factors influencing the expression of hand preference in nonhuman primates. This is particularly important because recent data on reaching in human infants indicates that preferences can switch from an initial left hand preference to a right hand preference with increasing age (Harris & Carlson, 1988; Young, Segalowitz, Corter, & Trehub, 1983). Thus, comparing hand preference distributions of infant and adult subjects of different species are important for understanding how asymmetries emerge in the course of development.KeywordsNonhuman PrimateHand PreferenceLateralized BehaviorRight HandCerebral LateralizationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.