Video-task assessment of stimulus novelty effects on hemispheric lateralization in baboons (Papio papio)

In a video matching-to-sample task, we examined the effects of stimulus novelty on hemispheric specialization in 6 baboons (Papio papio). After familiarization with a set of 8 composite stimuli, baboons were tested with either familiar stimuli paired in a novel way, novel stimuli composed of familiar elements, or novel stimuli differing in structure from the previous stimuli. Analyses focused on visual field differences between initial and later trials in each condition. The findings reflected shorter left than right visual half-field response times for initial but not for terminal trials. With regard to accuracy, scores were smaller for the initial trials than for the later ones, but there was no significant difference between left and right visual half-fields. Overall, this study suggests that hemispheric lateralization changes with practice and that the right hemisphere of the baboon plays a critical role in the processing of novelty.