A study of correlates of hand preferences in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study was to test the influence of sex, age, social rank, matriline membership, posture, and visual and tactual motor control on manual preferences in Saimiri sciureus. A well-established social group of 12 squirrel monkeys, aged 2 to 14 yrs and consisting of two matrilines with social rank known for each animal, was presented with four different foodreaching tasks and assessed for hand preferences with a minimum of 100 reaches per animal.Frequency of occurrence of hand preferences at the group level and degree of hand preferences at the individual level depended on posture and on whether the reaching act took place under visual or tactual guidance. Sex, age, social rank, and matriline membership were not found to determine frequency of occurrence, direction or degree of hand preferences with the exception of one task in which a significant negative correlation between the degree of hand preference and age was found. Nine out of 12 monkeys showed task-dependent changes in the hand they used preferentially while only three animals preferred the same hand in all four tasks. Significant preferences for the use of right or left hand on a given task were distributed almost equally between individuals. Thus, the results of this study suggest task-specific demands like posture and/or whether reaching was visually or taetually guided to be the major correlates of hand preferences in food-reaching tasks in squirrel monkeys.

Consistency of hand preference across low‐level and high‐level tasks in Capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella)

“…Thus, this theory proposes that nonhuman primates should exhibit a population-level righthand preference for tasks that require bimanual actions and a left-hand preference for more simple, unimanual tasks. Laska [1996] found that both posture and whether a task is visually or tactually guided, does affect hand preference in squirrel monkeys, thus supporting this theory. However, other studies mostly refute this theory [McGrew & Marchant, 1997;Papademetriou et al, 2005].…”

“…Although it is still a matter of debate as to whether capuchins show population-level hand preferences, individual capuchins do display strong and significant preferences for a given hand in specific tasks, particularly in those tasks requiring bimanual coordination [Fragaszy & Mitchell, 1990;Limongelli et al, 1994;Westergaard & Suomi, 1993, 1996. The TUBE task [Hopkins, 1995] is one of complex bimanual coordination that has been tested in several primate species, including capuchins.…”

Baseline cortisol levels and social behavior differ as a function of handedness in marmosets (Callithrix jacchus)

“…Although only few studies have directly examined the relationships between social rank and handedness, they have provided little evidence for such an association. Of particular interest, one study conducted in another New World species, the squirrel monkey, reported that social rank did not significantly influence preferential hand use (Laska, ). However dominant status is often associated with reproductive function (cycling vs. anovulatory status) in female marmosets (Saltzman, Schultz‐Darken, Scheffler, Wegner & Abbott, ).…”

Skeletal Biology, Functional Asymmetry and the Origins of “Handedness”

“…Their terrestrial successorsFno longer committed to a balancing actFwere subsequently rewarded with a ''freed right hand'', which was then exapted for fine/skilled manipulation. Revitalized, primate laterality research proliferated through the 1990s, producing numerous research papers, examples of which include in rhesus macaques; Byrne & Byrne (1991), in mountain gorillas; Hopkins et al (1993), Sugiyama et al (1993) and ) in chimpanzees; and Laska (1996) and Westergaard & Suomi (1996) in New World monkeys. Edited volumes (Preuschoft & Chivers, 1993;Ward & Hopkins, 1993) and reviews and meta-analyses (Marchant & McGrew, 1991;McGrew & Marchant, 1997) have also contributed to a growing body of knowledge surrounding primate laterality.…”