Visual perspective taking by dogs (Canis familiaris) in a Guesser–Knower task: evidence for a canine theory of mind?

We tested domestic dogs ( N  = 16) in a Guesser–Knower task in which they chose between possible locations for hidden food indicated by human informants. In four experiments, the perceptual access of the Guesser and Knower to the hidden food baiting was manipulated. When informants had differing per...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animal cognition 2014-11, Vol.17 (6), p.1375-1392
Main Authors: Maginnity, Michelle E., Grace, Randolph C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal cognition
Animal ethology
Animals
Association Learning
Attention
Behavioral Sciences
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Canis familiaris
Cues
Dogs
Dogs - psychology
Domestic animals
Female
Food
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Heterogeneity
Humans
Life Sciences
Male
Mammalia
Original Paper
Primates
Psychology Research
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Theory of Mind
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
Vision, Ocular
Zoology
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Summary:We tested domestic dogs ( N  = 16) in a Guesser–Knower task in which they chose between possible locations for hidden food indicated by human informants. In four experiments, the perceptual access of the Guesser and Knower to the hidden food baiting was manipulated. When informants had differing perceptual access to the baiting, dogs preferred the location indicated by the Knower from the start of testing (Experiment 1), even when baiting was done by a third experimenter (Experiments 2–3). However, when there was no difference in perceptual access and both informants either knew or did not know the food location, dogs had no preference between the informants (Experiment 4). Controls ruled out alternative explanations in terms of associative learning, unintentional and olfactory cues. Analysis of individual data showed no significant heterogeneity across dogs, and results were not correlated with age or sex. Dogs’ performances were superior to those of nonhuman primates in previous studies. Although a mentalistic explanation is not required, results add to evidence that dogs have a remarkable sensitivity to cues related to humans’ attentional state, which enables them to respond as if they had a functional theory of mind in the Guesser–Knower task with human informants.
ISSN:1435-9448
1435-9456
DOI:10.1007/s10071-014-0773-9