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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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2540091 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 |
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ftunivparmairis:oai:air.unipr.it:11381/2540091 2024-04-14T08:10:10+00:00 Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? S. Marshall Pescini C. Passalacqua M. E. Miletto Pedrazzini E. Prato Previde VALSECCHI, Paola Maria S., Marshall Pescini C., Passalacqua M. E., Miletto Pedrazzini Valsecchi, Paola Maria E., Prato Previde 2012 http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2540091 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000305345200040 volume:7 issue:4 firstpage:1 lastpage:8 numberofpages:8 journal:PLOS ONE http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2540091 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84865857279 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2012 ftunivparmairis https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 2024-03-21T18:14:49Z 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 Archivio della ricerca dell'Università di Parma (CINECA IRIS) PLoS ONE 7 4 e35437 |
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Archivio della ricerca dell'Università di Parma (CINECA IRIS) |
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ftunivparmairis |
language |
English |
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. |
author2 |
S., Marshall Pescini C., Passalacqua M. E., Miletto Pedrazzini Valsecchi, Paola Maria E., Prato Previde |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
S. Marshall Pescini C. Passalacqua M. E. Miletto Pedrazzini E. Prato Previde VALSECCHI, Paola Maria |
spellingShingle |
S. Marshall Pescini C. Passalacqua M. E. Miletto Pedrazzini E. Prato Previde VALSECCHI, Paola Maria Do dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) make counterproductive choices because they are sensitive to human ostensive cues? |
author_facet |
S. Marshall Pescini C. Passalacqua M. E. Miletto Pedrazzini E. Prato Previde VALSECCHI, Paola Maria |
author_sort |
S. 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? |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2540091 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000305345200040 volume:7 issue:4 firstpage:1 lastpage:8 numberofpages:8 journal:PLOS ONE http://hdl.handle.net/11381/2540091 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-84865857279 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035437 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
e35437 |
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