Observational learning of a left-right behavioral asymmetry in mice (Mus musculus).

B6D2F1 hybrid mice that were allowed to observe a trained female mouse open a pendulum door to the right (or to the left) to enter a food compartment later solved this problem faster than pupils that had been placed behind a visual barrier. Male pupils that had observed a left-handed: teacher performed sinistrally; males that had observed a right-handed: model performed dextrally. Female pupils did not exhibit their demonstrator\u27s laterality. Observational learning may provide a means to maintain certain lateralized behaviors. Such social learning may lead to the emergence of local traditions and to the cultural diffusion of behavioral asymmetries