Kangaroos prefer to use one of their
hands over the other for everyday tasks in much the same way that
humans do, with one notable difference, generally kangaroos are
lefties. A study found that wild kangaroos show a natural preference
for their left hands when performing particular actions, such as
grooming the nose, picking a leaf, or bending a tree branch.
Psychologist Eliza L. Nelson observed several monkeys using
individual fingers to grab food. The spider monkeys also were able
to insert one or two fingers into a tube to grab a serving of peanut
butter. It is the first time this type of independent digit control
has been reported for this species.
The unexpected observation occurred during Nelson's research study
evaluating measures of handedness in nonhuman primates, the tendency
to use one hand more naturally than the other. Spider monkeys' hands
have four fingers and no thumb. "We collected a large number of data
points on each measure to allow for analyses. The team analyzed
reach and coordination, both of which are difficult for spider
monkeys given their unique hand structure. Comparing results of both
tasks is critical for understanding the evolution of hand-use
preferences in primates.
Contrary to predictions and previous findings, Nelson's research
shows multiple measures are needed to fully characterize the concept
of handedness as a single handedness test cannot effectively predict
hand preference in nonhuman primates. The findings were recently
published in the journal Animal Cognition.
Infants who exhibit a consistent right hand preference are more
likely to develop advanced language skills by age two, according to
another study by Nelson. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Developmental Psychology.
In the study, Nelson measured handedness in different ways according
to the age-appropriate motor level. She looked at how infants used
their hands to pick up toys and compared it to how they used their
hands in combination to manipulate toys as toddlers. The study
results suggest there may be an advantage to having consistent hand
preference as an infant. Results showed children who had clear early
hand preference performed better on language skills tests than those
who did not develop handedness until toddlerhood. Those who were
inconsistent in their hand use as infants, but developed a
preference for the left or right hand as toddlers, had language
scores in the typical range for their age. We should give her a
hand for these interesting studies.