title: Observational learning of a left-right behavioral asymmetry in mice (Mus musculus).
abstract: B6D2F1 hybrid mice that were allowed to observe a trained female mouse open a pendulum door to the right (or to the left) to enter a food compartment later solved this problem faster than pupils that had been placed behind a visual barrier. Male pupils that had observed a "left-handed" teacher performed sinistrally; males that had observed a "right-handed" model performed dextrally. Female pupils did not exhibit their demonstrator's laterality. Observational learning may provide a means to maintain certain lateralized behaviors. Such social learning may lead to the emergence of local traditions and to the cultural diffusion of behavioral asymmetries.
authors.affiliation: Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine 04609.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009949:Orientation; D011187:Posture; D011340:Problem Solving