Boeving conducts
primate research in
Costa Rica
By Brooke Showalter,
Ouachita Baptist
University
Emily Boeving, a senior
psychology major from
Sherwood, conducted
research this summer at
El Zota Biological field
station in the province
of Limón,
exploring behavioral
lateralization and the
evolution of handedness
in primates.
Boeving’s research
examined hand preference
as it relates to posture
and task complexity in
the white-faced capuchin
monkey. Hand preference
was of particular
interest to her research
because though
population-level biases
seem unique to humans,
Boeving’s studies
suggest that
population-level biases
do occur in non-human
primates in complex
tasks and bipedal
shifts.
Boeving’s study of hand
preference began in the
summer of 2005 when she
took a field course in
primatology at El Zota
Biological field station
and carried out a study
on hand preference in
Howler monkeys. The
following year, she
conducted experimental
research in a colony of
Sulawesi macaques at the
Memphis Zoo. She
returned to Costa Rica
this summer to continue
her study of primate
hand preference.
The research was made
possible by DANTA:
Association for
Conservation of the
Tropics, the
organization that funds
the El Zota field
station. The field
station is situated in
the Caribbean lowlands
and holds nearly four
square miles of
continuous rainforest.
Boeving lived at the
station for one month.
Boeving said that her
time in Costa Rica was
an important addition to
her study of psychology
“because hand
preference, lateral
specialization and
postural shifts are all
interrelated and
dependent on
hemispherical
lateralization of the
brain.”
Boeving became
interested in studying
primate behavior in her
late teens, and began
focusing on hand
preference, lateral
specialization and
postural shifts after
Dr. Randall Wight
suggested it as a
possible research topic.
Boeving found his
suggestion appealing
largely because, she
said, “it is interesting
to study how different
species vary across
these variables.
Studying other related
species helps us to
understand ourselves.”
Dr. Wight, professor of
psychology and biology
as well as the head of
the psychology
department, supports
Boeving’s passion for
this kind of work and
believes it will benefit
her future career. He
said, “This sort of
thing significantly
enhances the possibility
she’ll gain admission
into graduate school. In
the sciences, no
research, no admission.
The independence Emily
exhibited in pursing
these opportunities is
the very thing a
graduate program will
want to see.” |
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