Meguerditchian, Adrien and Molesti, Sandra and Vauclair, Jacques (2011) Right-handedness predominance in 162 baboons (Papio anubis) for gestural communication: consistency across time and groups. Behavioral Neuroscience, 125 (4). pp. 653-660. ISSN 0735-7044

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Abstract

Whether nonhuman primates exhibit population level right manual bias remains a controversial topic. In captive baboons, population-level right-handedness has been reported for both coordinated bimanual actions and communicative gestures. However, some authors remain skeptical of these findings on both methodological and theoretical grounds. Here, we demonstrated the robustness and the consistency across time of the pattern of right-handedness for a species-specific communicative gesture in olive baboons (Papio anubis). First, we showed significant correlations in the 26 retested baboons for the measures of hand preferences between the first and the second session conducted 4 years later (2005–2009) by an observer blind to the previous handedness data. Second, the replication of the study in 96 novel individuals revealed a similar degree of population-level right-handedness than the one expressed in the first group of 66 subjects investigated in 2005. The implications of the findings are discussed within a theoretical framework about the origin of hemispheric specialization for language.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Whether nonhuman primates exhibit population level right manual bias remains a controversial topic. In captive baboons, population-level right-handedness has been reported for both coordinated bimanual actions and communicative gestures. However, some authors remain skeptical of these findings on both methodological and theoretical grounds. Here, we demonstrated the robustness and the consistency across time of the pattern of right-handedness for a species-specific communicative gesture in olive baboons (Papio anubis). First, we showed significant correlations in the 26 retested baboons for the measures of hand preferences between the first and the second session conducted 4 years later (2005–2009) by an observer blind to the previous handedness data. Second, the replication of the study in 96 novel individuals revealed a similar degree of population-level right-handedness than the one expressed in the first group of 66 subjects investigated in 2005. The implications of the findings are discussed within a theoretical framework about the origin of hemispheric specialization for language.
Keywords:	handedness, gestural communication, hemispheric specialization, origins of language
Subjects:	C Biological Sciences > C800 Psychology C Biological Sciences > C850 Cognitive Psychology C Biological Sciences > C830 Experimental Psychology C Biological Sciences > C890 Psychology not elsewhere classified
Divisions:	College of Social Sciences > Faculty of Health & Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User:	Alison Wilson
Date Deposited:	17 Jun 2011 12:00
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2013 09:01
URI:	http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/4554

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