Life Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Development Of Handedness In Rhesus Monkey And Human Infants Using Behavioral And Kinematic Measures, Eliza Lynn Nelson

Open Access Dissertations

Handedness is a widely studied behavioral asymmetry that is commonly measured as a preference for using one hand over the other. Right hand preference in humans occurs at a ratio of 9:1, whereas left hand preference in rhesus monkeys has been estimated at 2:1. Despite differences in the direction and degree of hand preference, this dissertation investigated whether primates share common underlying factors for the development of handedness. Previous work in human infants has identified a predictive relationship between rightward supine head orientation and later right hand preference. Experiment 1 examined the relationship between neonatal head orientation and later hand …