Hand preference in the use of tools by infant baboons (Papio cynocephalus anubis).
Hand preference in the use of tools was examined in a peer group of five infant baboons, Papio cynocephalus anubis. Hand preference was noted for all subjects on a sponging task and for one subject on a probing task. The baboons exhibited the highest percentage of bimanual actions on the initial segment of each three-component task. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that immature nonhuman primates exhibit lateral asymmetries when they use tools and bimanual coordination when they perform complex manipulative tasks.
Westergaard
G C
GC
Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Poolesville, MD.
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D010215:Papio