Forrester, Gillian S, Leavens, David A, Quaresmini, Caterina and Vallortigara, Giorgio (2011) Target animacy influences gorilla handedness. Animal Cognition, 14 (6). pp. 903-907. ISSN 1435-9448

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Abstract

Abstract We investigated the unimanual actions of a biological family group of twelve western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) using a methodological approach designed to assess behavior within social context from a bottom-up perspective. Measures of both the lateralization of unimanual actions (left, right) and the target of the action (animate, inanimate) were assessed during dual, synchronized video observations of naturalistic behavior. This paper demonstrates a corelationship between handedness and the animate quality of the target object. Analyses demonstrated a significant interaction between lateralized unimanual actions and target animacy and a right-hand bias for actions directed toward inanimate targets. We suggest that lateralized motor preference reflects the different processing capabilities of the left and right hemispheres, as influenced by the emotive (animate) and/or functional (inanimate) characteristics of the target, respectively.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Psychology > Psychology
Depositing User:	Gillian Sebestyen-Forrester
Date Deposited:	06 Feb 2012 15:31
Last Modified:	19 Jul 2013 10:48
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/13028

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