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Asymmetrical hatching behaviors influence the development of postnatal laterality in domestic chicks ( Gallus gallus )
Author(s) -
Casey Michael Bernard,
Martino Charles M.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/1098-2302(200007)37:1<13::aid-dev3>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - precocial , hatching , laterality , psychology , lateralization of brain function , developmental psychology , population , motor skill , biology , zoology , cognitive psychology , demography , sociology
Lateralized motor behaviors have been reported in some avian species. For instance, footedness has been reported in parrots and domestic chicks, and turning biases have been reported in such species as quail and domestic chicks. This study examined the effects of asymmetrical hatching behaviors on the development of lateralized turning bias and footedness in domestic chicks. Asymmetrical hatching behaviors are counter‐clockwise full body turns that many precocial birds make to escape the egg. To study the role of such coordinated prenatal motor behaviors in the development of lateralization, hatching behaviors were systematically disrupted following pipping. Subjects were subsequently tested on two measures of laterality: footedness and turning bias. Results indicated a significant reduction in individual and group lateralization for both measures. These findings suggest that the hatching behaviors found in domestic chicks serve to induce the development of strong motor biases at both the individual and population level. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 37: 13–24, 2000