Abstract
Hand preferences were assessed in 51 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes; 28 male and 23 female) ranging from 2 to 5 years of age). Simple reaching served as the measure of lateral bias in hand preference during 2 assessments separated by 1 year. A significant sex by hand preference interaction was found with a greater prevalence of right-handed males than females. No significant differences were found between age and either strength or direction of hand preference. A significant interaction was found between rearing and strength of hand preference. Mother-reared chimpanzees showed significantly greater strength in hand preference than nursery-reared chimpanzees. Finally, a significant positive correlation was found between tests of hand preference conducted over a 1-year interval. These data suggest that in chimpanzees hand preferences are established by 2 years of age and are stable throughout the juvenile developmental period.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 619-625 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Developmental psychology |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 1995 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Demography
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Life-span and Life-course Studies