Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues?
Dogs appear to be sensitive to human ostensive communicative cues in a variety of situations, however there is still a measure of controversy as to the way in which these cues influence human-dog interactions. There is evidence for instance that dogs can be led into making evaluation errors in a qua...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e61f996acf924c4cb0fd952aa3df3b81 2023-05-15T15:50:42+02:00 Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? Sarah Marshall-Pescini Chiara Passalacqua Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini Paola Valsecchi Emanuela Prato-Previde 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 https://doaj.org/article/e61f996acf924c4cb0fd952aa3df3b81 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3338840?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 https://doaj.org/article/e61f996acf924c4cb0fd952aa3df3b81 PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 4, p e35437 (2012) Medicine R Science Q article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 2022-12-30T23:25:43Z Dogs appear to be sensitive to human ostensive communicative cues in a variety of situations, however there is still a measure of controversy as to the way in which these cues influence human-dog interactions. There is evidence for instance that dogs can be led into making evaluation errors in a quantity discrimination task, for example losing their preference for a larger food quantity if a human shows a preference for a smaller one, yet there is, so far, no explanation for this phenomenon. Using a modified version of this task, in the current study we investigated whether non-social, social or communicative cues (alone or in combination) cause dogs to go against their preference for the larger food quantity. Results show that dogs' evaluation errors are indeed caused by a social bias, but, somewhat contrary to previous studies, they highlight the potent effect of stimulus enhancement (handling the target) in influencing the dogs' response. A mild influence on the dog's behaviour was found only when different ostensive cues (and no handling of the target) were used in combination, suggesting their cumulative effect. The discussion addresses possible motives for discrepancies with previous studies suggesting that both the intentionality and the directionality of the action may be important in causing dogs' social biases. Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 7 4 e35437 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Sarah Marshall-Pescini Chiara Passalacqua Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini Paola Valsecchi Emanuela Prato-Previde Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Dogs appear to be sensitive to human ostensive communicative cues in a variety of situations, however there is still a measure of controversy as to the way in which these cues influence human-dog interactions. There is evidence for instance that dogs can be led into making evaluation errors in a quantity discrimination task, for example losing their preference for a larger food quantity if a human shows a preference for a smaller one, yet there is, so far, no explanation for this phenomenon. Using a modified version of this task, in the current study we investigated whether non-social, social or communicative cues (alone or in combination) cause dogs to go against their preference for the larger food quantity. Results show that dogs' evaluation errors are indeed caused by a social bias, but, somewhat contrary to previous studies, they highlight the potent effect of stimulus enhancement (handling the target) in influencing the dogs' response. A mild influence on the dog's behaviour was found only when different ostensive cues (and no handling of the target) were used in combination, suggesting their cumulative effect. The discussion addresses possible motives for discrepancies with previous studies suggesting that both the intentionality and the directionality of the action may be important in causing dogs' social biases. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sarah Marshall-Pescini Chiara Passalacqua Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini Paola Valsecchi Emanuela Prato-Previde |
author_facet |
Sarah Marshall-Pescini Chiara Passalacqua Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini Paola Valsecchi Emanuela Prato-Previde |
author_sort |
Sarah Marshall-Pescini |
title |
Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
title_short |
Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
title_full |
Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
title_fullStr |
Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
title_sort |
do dogs (canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 https://doaj.org/article/e61f996acf924c4cb0fd952aa3df3b81 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 7, Iss 4, p e35437 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3338840?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 https://doaj.org/article/e61f996acf924c4cb0fd952aa3df3b81 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 |
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PLoS ONE |
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7 |
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4 |
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e35437 |
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