Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Laterality in Maternal Cradling and Infant Positional Biases: Implications for the Development and Evolution of Hand Preferences in Nonhuman Primates

  • Published:
International Journal of Primatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Left-sided maternal cradling has been widely reported in human populations. In this paper, I review the evidence of laterality in maternal cradling and infant positional biases in non-human primates. The review revealed some evidence of population-left sided cradling in great apes but little consistency in bias was found among Old and New World monkeys. Very little data have been reported in prosimians. I further describe how asymmetries in either maternal cradling or infant positional biases may explain individual and species differences in hand preference.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Annett, M. (1985). Left, Right, Hand, and Brain: The Right-Shift Theory, Erlbaum, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Annett, M. (1999). Handedness and cerebral dominance: The right shift theory. J.Neuropsy-chiatr.10: 459–469.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bisazza, A., Facchin, L., and Vallortigara, G. (2000). Heritability of lateralization in fish: Con-cordance of right-left asymmetry between parents and offspring. Neuropsychologia 38: 907–912.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bencie, W., and Sieratzki, J. S. (2002). Leftward cradling bias, prosodic speech and deafness: The deaf are not dumb. J.Genet.Psychol. 163: 126–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boesch, C. (1991). Handedness in wild chimpanzees. Int.J.Primatol. 6: 541–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, J., and Rogers, L. J. (1993). The Evolution of Lateral Asymmetries, Language, Tool use and Intellect, Academic Press, San Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bundy, R. S. (1979). Effects of infant head position on side preference in adult handling. Infant Behav.Dev. 2: 355–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooker, R. J., Lehman, R. A., Heinbuch, R. C., and Kidd, K. K. (1981). Hand usage in a colony of bonnet monkeys (Macaca radiata). Behav.Genet. 11: 49–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrne, R. W., and Byrne, J. M. (1991). Hand preferences in the skilled gathering tasks of mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla berengei). Cortex 27: 521–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chorazyna, H. (1976). Shifts in laterality in a baby chimpanzee. Neuropsychologia 14: 381–384.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corballis, M. C. (1997). The genetics and evolution of handedness. Psychol.Rev. 104: 714–727.

    Google Scholar 

  • Corballis, M. C. (2002). From Hand to Mouth: The Origins of Language, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. L. (1975). When left-handed mice live in a right handed world. Science 187: 181–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. L. (1985). On the inheritance of direction and degree of asymmetry. In Glick, S. (ed.), Cerebral Lateralization in Non-Human Species, Academic Press, Orlando, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R. L. (1988). Observational learning of a left-right asymmetry by mice (Mus muscu-lus). J.Comp.Psychol. 102: 222–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, D., Forsythe, C., and Ward, J. P. (1989). A report of behavioral lateralization in an infant orangutan. Primates 30: 249–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damerose, E., and Hopkins, W. D. (2002). Scan and focal sampling: reliability in the maternal cradling and infant nipple preferences of olive baboons, Papio anubis. Anim.Behav. 63: 511–518.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damerose, E., and Vauclair, J. (2002). Posture and laterality in human and non-human primates: Asymmetries in maternal handling and infant's early motor asymmetries. In Rogers, L., and Andrew, R. J. (eds.). Comparative Vertebrate Lateralization, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 306–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deets, A. C., and Harlow, H. F. (1970). Nipple preferences in nursing singleton-and twin-reared rhesus monkey infants. Dev.Psychol. 2: 159–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deng, C., and Rogers, L. J. (2002). Factors affecting the development of lateralization in chicks. In Rogers, L. J., and Andrew, J. R. (eds.), Comparative Vertebrate Lateralization, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 206–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dienske, H., Hopkins, B., and Reid, A. K. (1995). Lateralisation of infant holding in chim-panzees: new data do not confirm previous findings. Behaviour 132: 801–809.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erwin, J., Anderson, B., and Bunger, D. (1975). Nursing behavior of infant pigtail monkeys (Macaca nemestrina): Preferences for nipples. Percept.Mot.Skills 592–594.

  • Fagot, J. and Bard, K. A. (1995). Asymmetric grasping response in neonate chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Infant Behav.Dev. 18: 253–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, R. B., Meunier, G. F., and White, P. J. (1982). Evidence of laterality in the lowland gorilla. Percept.Mot.Skills 54: 1093–1094.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginsburg, H. J., Fling, S., Hope, M. L., Musgrove, D., and Andrews C. (1979). Maternal hold-ing preferences: a consequence of newborn head-turning response. Child Dev. 50: 280–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hepper, P. G., Shahidullah, S, and White, R. (1991). Handedness in the human fetus. Neuropsychologia 29: 1107–1111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hiraiwa, M. (1981). Maternal and alloparental care in a troop of free–ranging Japanese monkeys. Primates 22: 309–329.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hook, M. A. (in press). The evolution of lateralized motor functions. In Rogers, L., and Kaplan, G. (eds.), Comparative Vertebrate Cognitions, Kluwer, New York, pp. 325–370.

  • Hook-Costigan, M. A., and Rogers, L. J. (1997). Hand preferences in New World primates. Int.J.Comp.Psychol. 9: 173–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1994). Hand preferences for bimanual feeding in 140 captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Rearing and ontogenetic factors. Dev.Psychobiol. 27: 395–407.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1995a). Hand preferences in juvenile chimpanzees: Continuity in develop-ment. Dev.Psychol. 31: 619–625.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1995b). Hand preferences for a coordinated bimanual task in 110 chim-panzees: Cross-sectional analysis. J.Comp.Psychol. 109: 291–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1996). Chimpanzee handedness revisited: 54 years since Finch (1941). Psy-chonom. Bull.Rev. 3: 449–457.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D. (1999). Heritablity of hand preference in chimpanzees: Evidence from a partial interspecies cross-fostering study. J.Comp.Psychol. 113: 307–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., Bales, S., and Bennett, A. J. (1994). Heritability in direction of hand prefer-ence in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Int.J.Neurosci. 74: 17–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., and Bard, K. A. (1993). Hemispheric specialization in infant chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Evidence for a relation with gender and arousal. Dev.Psychobiol. 26: 219–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., and Bard, K. A. (1995). Evidence of asymmetries in spontaneous head turning in infant chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Behav.Neurosci. 109: 808–812.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., and Bard, K. A. (2000). A longitudinal study of hand preference in chim-panzees (Pan troglodytes). Dev.Psychobiol. 34: 292–300.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., Bard, K. A., and Griner, K. M. (1997). Locomotor adaptation and leading limb asymmetries in neonatal chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Int.J.Primatol. 18: 104–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., Bard, K. A., Jones, A., and Bales, S. (1993). Chimpanzee hand preference for throwing and infant cradling: Implications for the origin of human handedness. Curr. Anthropol. 34: 786–790.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., and Dahl, J. F. (2000). Birth order and hand preference in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Implications for pathological models of handedness in humans. J.Comp. Psychol. 114: 302–306.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., Dahl, J. F., and Pilcher, D. (2000). Birth order and left-handedness revisited: Some recent findings in chimpanzees (Pantroglodytes) and their implications for develop-mental and evolutionary models of human handedness, Neuropsychologia, 38: 1626–1633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., Dahl, J. F., and Pilcher, D. (2001). Genetic influence on the expression of hand preferences in chimpanzees (Pantroglodytes): Evidence in support of the right-shift theory and developmental instability. Psychol.Sci. 12: 299–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, W. D., and Morris, R. D. (1993). Handedness in great apes. A review of findings. Int. J.Primatol. 14: 1–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hopkins, B., and Ronnqvist, L. (1998). Human handedness: Developmental and eolutionary perspectives. In Simon, F., and Butterworth, G. (eds.), The Development of Sensory, Motor and Cognitive Capacities of Early Infancy: From Perception to Cognition, Psychology Press, East Sussex, UK, pp. 191–236.

  • Ifune, C. K., Vermeire, B., A. and Hamilton, C. R. (1984). Hemispheric differences in split-brain monkeys and responding to videotape recordings. Behav.Neural Biol. 41: 231–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laland, K. N., Kumm, J., Van Horn, J. D., and Feldman, M. W. (1995). A gene-culture model of human handedness. Behav.Genet. 25: 433–445.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindburg, D. G. (1971). The rhesus monkey in North India: An ecological and behavioral study. In Rosenblum, L. A. (ed.), Primate Behavior: Developments in Field and Laboratory Research, Vol. 2, Academic Press, New York, pp. 1–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockard, J. (1984). Handedness in a captive group of lowland gorillas. Am.J.Primatol.13: 356[Abstract].

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockard, J. S., Daley, P. C., and Gunderson, V. (1979). Maternal and paternal differences in infant carrying: US and African data. Am.Naturalist, 113: 235–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacNeilage, P. F., Studdert-Kennedy, M. G., and Lindblom, B. (1987). Primate handedness reconsidered. Behav.Brain Sci. 10: 247–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, J. T., and Chamberlain, A. T. (1990). The left-side cradling preference in great apes. Anim.Behav. 39: 1224–1227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, J. T., and Chamberlain, A. T. (1991). Left-side cradling and brain lateralisation. Ethol.Sociobiol. 12: 237–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, J. T., and Denman, J. (1994). Lateral cradling preferences in humans (Homo sapiens): Similarities within families. J.Comp.Psychol. 108: 262–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manning, J. T., Heaton, R., and Chamberlain, A. T. (1994). Left-side cradling: Similarities and differences between apes and humans. J.Hum.Evol. 26: 77–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matoba, M., Masataka, N., and Tanioka, Y. (1991). Cross-generational continuity of hand use preference in marmosets. Behaviour 117: 281–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuzawa, T., Biro, D., Humle, T., Inoue-Nakamura, N., Tonooka, R., and Yamakoshi, G. (2001). Emergence of culture in wild chimpanzees: Education by master-apprenticeship. In Matsuzawa, T. (ed.), Primate Origins of Human Cognition and Behavior, Springer, Tokyo, pp. 557–574.

    Google Scholar 

  • McManus, I. C., and Bryden, M. P. (1992). The genetics of handedness, cerebral dominance and lateralization. In Rapin, I., and Segalowitz, S. J. (eds.), Handbook of Neuropsychology. Vol 6.Developmental Neuropsychology, Part 1, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 115–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Michel, G. F. (1981). Right-handedness: Aconsequence of infant supine head-orientation preference? Science 212: 685–687.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milliken, G. W., Forsythe, C., and Ward, J. P. (1989). Multiple measures of hand use in the ring-tailed lemur (Lemurcatta). J.Comp.Psychol. 103: 262–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakamichi, M. (1996). The left-sided holding preference is not universal: Evidence from field observations in Madagascar. Ethol.Sociobiol. 17: 173–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T. (1993). Left nipple suckling preference in wild chimpanzees. Ethol.Sociobiol. 14: 45–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinger, C., Lavallee, K., Hobbes, F., and Ward, J. P. (1988). An evaluation of lateralization in infant prosimian primates. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Etho-logical Society, Toronto, Canada.

  • Previc, F. H. (1991). A general theory concerning the prenatal origins of cerebral lateralization in humans. Psychol.Rev. 98: 299–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Provins, K. A. (1997). Handedness and speech: A critical reappraisal of the role of genetic and environmental factors in the cerebral lateralization of function. Psychol.Rev. 104: 554–571.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, L. J. (2002). Lateralization in vertebrates: Its early evolution, general pattern, and development. In Slater, P. J. B., Rosenblatt, J. S., Snowdon, C. T., and Roper, T. J. (eds), Advances in the Study of Behavior, Vol. 31, Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 107–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, L. J., and Andrew, R. J. (2002). Comparative Vertebrate Lateralization, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, L. J., and Kaplan, G. (1995). Hand preferences and other lateral biases in rehabilitated orangutans, Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus. Anim.Behav. 51: 13–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, L. J., and Kaplan, G. (1998). Teat preference for suckling in common marmosets: Relationship to side of being carried and hand preference. Laterality 3: 269–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, L. J., Ward, J. P., and Stafford, D. (1994). Eye dominance in the small-eared bushbaby, Otolemur garnetti. Neuropsychologia 32: 257–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salk, L. (1960). The effects of normal heartbeat sound on the behavior of the newborn infant: implications for mental health. World Ment.Health 12: 168–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salk, L. (1973). The role of the heartbeat in the relations between mother and infant. Sci.Am. 228: 24–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sieratzki, J. S., and Woll, B. (1996). Why do mothers cradle their babies on the left? Lancet 347: 1746–1748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Signore, P., Chaoui, M., Nosten-Bertrand, M., Perez-Diaz, F., and Marchaland, C. (1991). Handedness in mice: Comparison across 11 different strains. Behav.Genet. 21, 421–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, S., and Schwibbe, M. H. (1999). Right or left, hand or mouth: genera-specific preferences in marmosets and tamarins. Behaviour 136: 119–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stables, D., and Hewitt, G. (1995). The effect of lateral asymmetries on breast feeding skills: Can midwives ‘holding interventions overcome unilateral breast feeding problems. Mid-wifery 11: 28–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, I. (1989). Change of nipple preference between successive offspring in Japanese macaques. Am.J.Primatol. 18: 321–325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka, I. (1997). Parity-related differences in suckling behavior and nipple preference among free-ranging Japanese macaques. Am.J.Primatol. 42: 331–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, A. C., and Verstynen, T. (2002). Early life environment modulates ‘handedness’ in rats. Behav.Brain Res. 131: 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnbull, O. H., Stein, L., and Lucas, M. D. (1995). Lateral preferences in adult embracing: A test of the “hemispheric asymmetry” theory of infant cradling. J.Genet.Psychol. 156: 17–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turnbull, O. H., Rhys-Jones, S. L., and Jackson, A. L. (2001). The leftward cradling bias and prosody: An investigation of cradling preferences in the deaf community. J.Genet. Psychol. 162: 178–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toback, E. (1999). Behavioral laterality in chimpanzees. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Stirling.

  • Tomaszycki, M., Cline, C., Griffin, B., Maestripieri, D., and Hopkins, W. D. (1998). Mater-nal cradling and infant nipple preferences in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Dev. Psychobiol. 32: 305–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vallortigara, G., and Bisazza, A. (2002). How ancient is brain lateralization? In Rogers, L. J., and Andrew, J. R. (eds.), Comparative Vertebrate Lateralization, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 9–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verstynen, T., Tierney, R., Urbanski, T., and Tang, A. (2001). Neonatal novelty exposure modulates hippocampal volumetric asymmetry in the rat. Neuroreport 12(14): 3019–3022.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, J. P., and Hopkins, W. D. (1993). Primate Laterality: Current Behavioral Evidence of Primate Asymmetries, Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, J. M. (1980). Handedness and laterality in humans and other animals. Physiol. Psychol. 8: 351–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waters, N. S., and Denenberg, V. H. (1994). Analysis of two measures of paw preference in a large population of inbred mice. Behav.Brain Res. 63: 195–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winkler, P., and Prestel, H. (1989). Twins in free-ranging Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entel-lus). Primates 30: 255–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. G., Byrne, G., and Suomi, S. J. (1998). Early lateral bias in tufted capuchins (Cebus apella). Dev.Psychobiol. 32: 45–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westergaard, G. G. and Suomi, S. J. (1997). Lateral bias in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella): Concordance between parents and offspring. Dev.Psychobiol. 31: 143–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Lawick-Goodall, J. (1967). Mother-offspring relationships in free-ranging chimpanzees. In Morris, D. (ed.), Primate Ethology Aldine, Chicago, pp. 287–346.

  • Yeo, R., and Gangsted, S. W. (1993). Developmental origins of variation in human hand preference. Genetica 89: 281–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeo, R. A., and Gangestad, S. W. (2002). Hand preference and developmental instability. Psychobiology 21: 161–168.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Psychobiology, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, 954 Gatewood Road, Atlanta, Georgia

    William D. Hopkins

  2. Department of Psychology, Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia

    William D. Hopkins

Authors
  1. William D. Hopkins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hopkins, W.D. Laterality in Maternal Cradling and Infant Positional Biases: Implications for the Development and Evolution of Hand Preferences in Nonhuman Primates. International Journal of Primatology 25, 1243–1265 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:IJOP.0000043961.89133.3d

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:IJOP.0000043961.89133.3d

Search

Navigation