ASSESSMENT OF HAND PREFERENCE IN 2 LANGUAGE-TRAINED CHIMPANZEES (PAN-TROGLODYTES) - A MULTIMETHOD ANALYSIS

The nonhuman primate literature concludes that monkeys and apes do not exhibit handedness preferences at the population level. This discrepa ncy between human and nonhuman primate findings may be due to differen ces in the methods of assessment of handedness, lack of reliability be tween various measures of handedness, and a paucity of studies involvi ng great apes. This paper presents the results of extensive hand prefe rence studies with two language-trained chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Both naturalistic and experimental paradigms are described. In partic ular, various methodologic factors involved in handedness assessment, including the use of a hand preference measure previously used with hu man subjects were examined. Both chimpanzees exhibited a right-hand pr eference for fine motor tasks requiring manual dexterity.