Forelimb preferences in human beings and other species: multiple models for testing hypotheses on lateralization

Versace, Elisabetta; Vallortígara, Giorgio

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00233

Cited by 105 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 147 publications

(173 reference statements)

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“…sex split, castration status), task complexity and other, uncontrolled for, variables (e.g. experimenter handedness), contribute towards this discrepancy in results in dogs, in much the same way as they do in other species (see Rogers, 2009;Strockens, Gunturkun & Ocklenburg, 2013;Versace & Vallortigara, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The left hemisphere, by contrast, largely inhibits fear, encouraging exploration and approach behaviour (e.g., Silbermann & Weingartner, 1986). Dominance, or more frequent use, of one hemisphere over the other predisposes individuals to behave in a certain way, with left-handed or weakly lateralised individuals being more fearful than right-handed or strongly lateralised individuals (e.g., Rogers, 2010;Versace & Vallortigara, 2015). Limb preference (i.e., the preferred use of one hand/paw to perform a task) is associated with greater activity of the contralateral motor cortex (Versace & Vallortigara, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dominance, or more frequent use, of one hemisphere over the other predisposes individuals to behave in a certain way, with left-handed or weakly lateralised individuals being more fearful than right-handed or strongly lateralised individuals (e.g., Rogers, 2010;Versace & Vallortigara, 2015). Limb preference (i.e., the preferred use of one hand/paw to perform a task) is associated with greater activity of the contralateral motor cortex (Versace & Vallortigara, 2015). Thus, the observation of a bias in hand (or paw) use can be considered an indicator of brain laterality (Batt, Batt, & McGreevy, 2007;Branson & Rogers, 2006;Gordon & Rogers, 2010;Hopkins & Bennett, 1994;Marshall-Pescini, Barnard, Branson & Valsecchi, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been proposed that limb use, a good indicator of hemispheric functioning (Annett, 1985;Springer & Deutsch, 1989), may be a useful predictor of cognitive bias and hence vulnerability to welfare risk (Rogers, 2010;Versace & Vallortigara, 2015). In the first, and only, study of its kind to explore this, Gordon and Rogers (2015) reported that left-handed marmosets were more likely than their right-handed counterparts to exhibit a negative cognitive bias, and concluded that hand preference, which can be easily measured, could be a straightforward and useful way of assessing welfare risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Cognitive bias and paw preference in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

Wells¹,

Hepper²,

Milligan³

et al. 2017

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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Limb use, an indicator of hemispheric functioning, may be a useful predictor of cognitive bias and hence vulnerability to welfare risk. The relationship between cognitive bias and motor asymmetry, however, has been subject to little investigation. This study explored the association between motor asymmetry and cognitive bias in the domestic dog, a species that displays lateral bias in the form of paw preferences and exhibits positive and negative affective states. Thirty pet dogs had their paw preferences assessed using the Kong ball test. The subjects' affective state was assessed using a cognitive bias test in which the animals' latency to approach a bowl placed in 1 of 3 ambiguous positions was recorded. Animals veering more toward a left-paw preference were found to be significantly slower to approach the bowl placed in 1 of the ambiguous positions than ambilateral or right-pawed dogs. Left-pawed subjects approached the bowl located at the 3 ambiguous positions at roughly the same speed, while ambilateral and right-pawed animals became increasingly slower to approach the bowl the further it was located from the baited food bowl. The study points to a possible relationship between cognitive bias and paw preference in the dog, with left-pawed animals being more negative or "pessimistic" in their cognitive outlook than right-pawed or ambilateral individuals. It is proposed that limb preference testing might offer a more practical and straightforward way of identifying individuals at risk from poor welfare by virtue of how they perceive the world than more time-consuming cognitive bias tests.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Cognitive bias and paw preference in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

Wells¹,

Hepper²,

Milligan³

et al. 2017

Journal of Comparative Psychology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Among vertebrates, 61 species (out of 119 measured) show population-level limb preferences, of which 25 species are mammals, 30 birds, and 6 amphibians, reptiles, and fish [4]. Some other animal species also have behavioural hand biases up to 90% at the species level [5][6][7][8], and many other species have individually stable hand preferences [9,10]. However, within our evolutionary clade, humans are the only great ape that shows strong, species-universal biases towards one direction of handedness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Handedness and Viewpoint on the Imitation of Origami-Making

Uomini

Lawson

2017

Symmetry

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Abstract:The evolutionary origins of the human bias for 85% right-handedness are obscure. The Apprenticeship Complexity Theory states that the increasing difficulty of acquiring stone tool-making and other manual skills in the Pleistocene favoured learners whose hand preference matched that of their teachers. Furthermore, learning from a viewing position opposite, rather than beside, the demonstrator might be harder because it requires more mental transformation. We varied handedness and viewpoint in a bimanual learning task. Thirty-two participants reproduced folding asymmetric origami figures as demonstrated by a videotaped teacher in four conditions (left-handed teacher opposite the learner, left-handed beside, right-handed opposite, or right-handed beside). Learning performance was measured by time to complete each figure, number of video pauses and rewinds, and similarity of copies to the target shape. There was no effect of handedness or viewpoint on imitation learning. However, participants preferred to produce figures with the same asymmetry as demonstrated, indicating they imitate the teacher's hand preference. We speculate that learning by imitation involves internalising motor representations and that, to facilitate learning by imitation, many motor actions can be flexibly executed using the demonstrated hand configuration. We conclude that matching hand preferences evolved due to socially learning moderately complex bimanual skills.

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Precise digit use increases the expression of handedness in Colombian spider monkeys (Ateles fusciceps rufiventris)

Nelson

Boeving

2015

American J Primatol

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Decades of research on the hand use patterns of nonhuman primates can be aptly summarized by the following phrase: measurement matters. There is a general consensus that simple reaching is a poor indicator of handedness in most species, while tasks that constrain how the hands are used elicit individual, and in some cases, population-level biases. The TUBE task has become a popular measure of handedness, although there is variability in its administration across studies. The goal of this study was to investigate whether TUBE performance is affected by tube diameter, with the hypothesis that decreasing tube diameter would increase task complexity, and therefore the expression of handedness. We predicted that hand preference strength, but not direction, would be affected by tube diameter. We administered the TUBE task using a 1.3 cm tube to Colombian spider monkeys, and compared their performance to a previous study using a larger 2.5 cm diameter tube. Hand preference strength increased significantly on the smaller diameter tube. Hand preference direction was not affected. Notably, spider monkeys performed the TUBE task using a single digit, despite the longstanding view that this species has poor dexterity. We encourage investigators who use the TUBE task to carefully consider the diameter of the tube used in testing, and to report digit use consistently across studies. In addition, we recommend that researchers who cannot use the TUBE task try to incorporate the key features from this task into their own species appropriate measures: bimanual coordination and precise digit use.

show abstract

Forelimb preferences in human beings and other species: multiple models for testing hypotheses on lateralization

Cited by 105 publications

References 147 publications

Cognitive bias and paw preference in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

Cognitive bias and paw preference in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

Effects of Handedness and Viewpoint on the Imitation of Origami-Making

Precise digit use increases the expression of handedness in Colombian spider monkeys (Ateles fusciceps rufiventris)

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