Point Topography and Within-Session Learning Are Important Predictors of Pet Dogs’ (Canis lupus familiaris) Performance on Human Guided Tasks

• Main Authors: Udell, Monique A. R., Hall, Nathaniel J., Morrison, James, Dorey, Nicole R., Wynne, Clive D. L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Spanish
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Canis Lupus Familiaris; Perro; Domesticación; Aprendizaje; Generalización; Comunicación; Señalar; Dog; Domestication; Learning; Generalization; Communication; Pointing; Canis lupus
• Online Access: https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/oaiart?codigo=4800007

Pet domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are generally considered successful on object choice tasks, reliably following human points to a target. However, defining the specific topography of the point types utilized and assessing the potential for dogs to generalize their responses across similar point types has received little attention. In Experiment 1, we assessed pet dogs' performance on an object choice task utilizing nine different point types that varied across the dimensions of movement, duration, and distance. These dimensions reliably predicted the performance of pet dogs on this task. In Experiment 2, pet dogs presented with nine different point types in the order of increasing difficulty performed better on more difficult point types than both naive dogs and dogs experiencing the nine points in the order of decreasing difficulty. In Experiment 3, we manipulated the attentional state of the experimenter (as in perspective taking studies) and found that human orientation was not a strong predictor of performance on pointing tasks. The results of this study indicate that dogs do not reliably follow all point types without additional training or experience. Furthermore, dogs appear to continuously learn about the dimensions of human points, adjusting their behavior accordingly, even over the course of experimental testing. These findings bring claims of pet dogs' spontaneous success on pointing tasks into question. The ability to learn about, and respond flexibly to, human gestures may benefit pet dogs living in human homes more than a spontaneous responsiveness to specific gesture types. La topografía puntual y el Aprendizaje dentro de ensayo son predictores importantes de la perfomance del perro doméstico (Canis lupus familiaris) tareas de guiado humano: Los perros domésticos son generalmente considerados exitosos en la tarea de elección de objeto, siguiendo fiablemente señales humanas hacia el lugar correcto. Sin embargo, tanto el definir la topografía precisa de las señales así como el evaluar la ...