Journal
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 125, Issue 1, Pages 61-71Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/a0020868
Keywords
bimanuality; manual role differentiation; aging-related motor dysfunction; object play; tool-use
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan [1907421]
- Lavoisier postdoctoral Grant
- Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, France
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) [07421]
- HOPE Project
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Defined as a spontaneous stone-directed noninstrumental manipulative behavior, and comprised of multiple one-handed and (a)symmetrical/(un)coordinated two-handed patterns, stone handling (SH) is a good candidate for the study of complexity in object manipulation. We present a cross-sectional developmental analysis of SH complexity in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), through the combined investigation of bimanuality, coordination, and symmetry in hand use. Bimanual SH patterns were more frequent than unimanual patterns. Among bimanual patterns, coordinated actions were more frequent than uncoordinated ones. We recorded five asymmetrical coordinated SH patterns with manual role differentiation, a form of hand use reminiscent of complex actions involving the use of tools in monkeys and apes. Bimanuality in SH was affected by body posture. Aging individuals performed less bimanual and less coordinated SH patterns than younger individuals. Our result on senescent males performing less bimanual patterns than senescent females was consistent with sex differences found in the late deterioration of complex manual movements in other species. Although some SH patterns represent a high degree of behavioral complexity, our results suggest that SH behavior is not as complex as tool-use or tool-manufacture in other nonhuman primates and hominids.
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