What Is Special About Dog Cognition?

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 345-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive D. L. Wynne
Keyword(s):  
Dog Cognition

scholarly journals Local Dot Motion, Not Global Configuration, Determines Dogs’ Preference for Point-Light Displays

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla J. Eatherington ◽  
Lieta Marinelli ◽  
Miina Lõoke ◽  
Luca Battaglini ◽  
Paolo Mongillo
Keyword(s):  
Human Motion ◽  
Visual Preference ◽  
Dog Cognition ◽  
Global Configuration ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Motion Features ◽  
Dot Motion ◽  
Point Light ◽  
Perception Of Biological Motion ◽  
Systematic Manipulation

Visual perception remains an understudied area of dog cognition, particularly the perception of biological motion where the small amount of previous research has created an unclear impression regarding dogs’ visual preference towards different types of point-light displays. To date, no thorough investigation has been conducted regarding which aspects of the motion contained in point-light displays attract dogs. To test this, pet dogs (N = 48) were presented with pairs of point-light displays with systematic manipulation of motion features (i.e., upright or inverted orientation, coherent or scrambled configuration, human or dog species). Results revealed a significant effect of inversion, with dogs directing significantly longer looking time towards upright than inverted dog point-light displays; no effect was found for scrambling or the scrambling-inversion interaction. No looking time bias was found when dogs were presented with human point-light displays, regardless of their orientation or configuration. The results of the current study imply that dogs’ visual preference is driven by the motion of individual dots in accordance with gravity, rather than the point-light display’s global arrangement, regardless their long exposure to human motion.

scholarly journals Breed Differences in Dog Cognition Associated with Brain-Expressed Genes and Neurological Functions

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 976-990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gitanjali E Gnanadesikan ◽  
Brian Hare ◽  
Noah Snyder-Mackler ◽  
Josep Call ◽  
Juliane Kaminski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Noncoding Rna ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Genetic Relatedness ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Nervous System Development ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Dog Cognition ◽  
Breed Differences ◽  
Vesicle Exocytosis

Synopsis Given their remarkable phenotypic diversity, dogs present a unique opportunity for investigating the genetic bases of cognitive and behavioral traits. Our previous work demonstrated that genetic relatedness among breeds accounts for a substantial portion of variation in dog cognition. Here, we investigated the genetic architecture of breed differences in cognition, seeking to identify genes that contribute to variation in cognitive phenotypes. To do so, we combined cognitive data from the citizen science project Dognition.com with published breed-average genetic polymorphism data, resulting in a dataset of 1654 individuals with cognitive phenotypes representing 49 breeds. We conducted a breed-average genome-wide association study to identify specific polymorphisms associated with breed differences in inhibitory control, communication, memory, and physical reasoning. We found five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that reached genome-wide significance after Bonferroni correction, located in EML1, OR52E2, HS3ST5, a U6 spliceosomal RNA, and a long noncoding RNA. When we combined results across multiple SNPs within the same gene, we identified 188 genes implicated in breed differences in cognition. This gene set included more genes than expected by chance that were (1) differentially expressed in brain tissue and (2) involved in nervous system functions including peripheral nervous system development, Wnt signaling, presynapse assembly, and synaptic vesicle exocytosis. These results advance our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of complex cognitive phenotypes and identify specific genetic variants for further research.

scholarly journals Free-ranging dogs are capable of comprehending complex human pointing cues

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debottam Bhattacharjee ◽  
Sarab Mandal ◽  
Piuli Shit ◽  
Mebin George Varghese ◽  
Aayushi Vishnoi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Interspecific Communication ◽  
Ideal System ◽  
Dog Cognition ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Communicative Gestures ◽  
Free Ranging ◽  
First Time

AbstractDogs are the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity of understanding and responding to human referential gestures. The remarkable socio-cognitive skills of pet dogs, while interacting with humans, is quite well established. However, studies regarding the free-ranging subpopulations are greatly lacking. Free-ranging dogs represent an ideal system to investigate interspecific communication with unfamiliar humans, nullifying any contribution of indirect conditioning. The interactions of these dogs with humans are quite complex and multidimensional. For the first time, we tested free-ranging dogs’ ability to understand relatively complex human referential gestures using dynamic and momentary distal pointing cues. We found that these dogs are capable of apprehending distal pointing cues from humans. However, approximately half of the population tested showed a lack of tendency to participate even after successful familiarization with the experimental set-up. A closer inspection revealed anxious behavioural states of the individuals were responsible for such an outcome. We assume that life experiences with humans probably shape personalities of free-ranging dogs, which in turn influence their responsiveness to human communicative gestures.

Exploring the canine mind: Studies of dog cognition

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 205-206
Author(s):  
Krista Macpherson ◽  
William A. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Dog Cognition

scholarly journals Citizen Science as a New Tool in Dog Cognition Research

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e0135176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laughlin Stewart ◽  
Evan L. MacLean ◽  
David Ivy ◽  
Vanessa Woods ◽  
Eliot Cohen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Science ◽  
Dog Cognition

scholarly journals Oxytocin blocks pet dog (Canis familiaris) object choice task performance being predicted by owner-perceived intelligence and owner attachment.

2016 ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Lee Oliva ◽  
Jean-Loup Rault ◽  
Belinda Appleton ◽  
Alan Lill
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Attachment Styles ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Anxious Attachment ◽  
Pet Attachment ◽  
Object Choice ◽  
Dog Cognition ◽  
Saline Administration ◽  
Object Choice Task

<p>A positive association has been found between owner-rated dog cognition and owner-perceived closeness to their dog, using the Perceptions of Dog Intelligence and Cognitive Skills (PoDIaCS) survey and the Monash Dog Owner Relationship Scale (MDORS). Oxytocin has been positively associated with bonding in mammals and with non-verbal intelligence in humans and could therefore explain this relationship between owner-rated questionnaires. The aims of this study were to ascertain: i) whether a pet dog’s performance on an object choice task (OCT), which objectively measures dogs’ ability to use human non-verbal, social gestures to find a food reward, could be predicted by their owners’ scores on three different surveys: (a) the MDORS, (b) the Pet Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ), which measures levels of anxious and avoidant attachment styles, and (c) a modified version of the PoDIaCS, and ii) if intranasal administration of oxytocin to dogs, known to enhance dogs’ performance on such tasks, would disable the ability of an owner to predict their dogs’ performance. It was hypothesized that higher ratings of owner-reported closeness to their dog, and higher ratings of owner-perceived intelligence of their dog, would positively predict dog OCT performance after saline, but not after oxytocin. Seventy-five pet dogs and their owners were recruited to participate in two OCTs, 5-15 days apart, once after the dog received intranasal oxytocin and once after receiving saline. Owners completed the PoDIaCS and another survey relating to pet ownership before OCT 1, and the MDORS and PAQ before OCT 2. After saline administration, scores on the anxious subscale of the PAQ were a negative predictor of dog OCT performance using pointing cues, while subscale 6 of the PoDIaCS, ‘contagion of human emotions’, positively predicted performance using gazing cues. None of the questionnaire subscales were predictive of performance on the OCT after oxytocin administration. Results suggest that a dog’s ‘natural’ ability to follow human pointing cues and anxious attachment in owners are inversely related, whilst a dog’s ‘natural’ ability to follow human gazing cues is positively related to owner-rated empathic ability of the dog.</p>

scholarly journals Discrimination of Person Odor by Owned Domestic Dogs

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Horowitz
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Domestic Dogs ◽  
Body Odor ◽  
The People ◽  
Dog Cognition ◽  
The Face ◽  
Outstanding Question

In the field of dog cognition research, many studies assume that their subjects have multimodal recognition of their owner: Experiments using the face or voice of the person have proliferated. An outstanding question is whether owned domestic dogs represent the people with whom they live via smell. Olfaction is a principle sensory modality for dogs, and there is evidence that it is integral to recognition of conspecifics. In the current study, we investigated whether owned dogs spontaneously (without training) distinguished their owner's odor from a stranger's odor. Using natural body odor captured on a t-shirt, we found that dogs habituated to a familiar odor and dishabituated to an unfamiliar odor. This finding begins to answer the question of how dogs recognize and represent humans, including their owners.

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