Dogs (Canis familiaris ) Learn From Their Owners via Observation in a Manipulation Task

Eighty-seven pet dogs ( Canis familiaris ) were involved in an experiment in which they had to solve a task to obtain a ball. After witnessing a full demonstration by their owner (10 times pushing the handle of the box, which released a ball), most dogs preferred to touch the handle sooner and more...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative psychology (1983) 2003-06, Vol.117 (2), p.156-165
Main Authors: Kubinyi, Enikő, Topál, József, Miklósi, Ádám, Csányi, Vilmos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal cognition
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Dogs
Dogs - psychology
Humans
Learning
Nonverbal Communication - psychology
Observation
Recognition (Psychology)
Social Behavior
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Summary:Eighty-seven pet dogs ( Canis familiaris ) were involved in an experiment in which they had to solve a task to obtain a ball. After witnessing a full demonstration by their owner (10 times pushing the handle of the box, which released a ball), most dogs preferred to touch the handle sooner and more frequently in comparison with other parts of the box, and they used the handle to get the ball. In contrast, dogs in 3 control groups developed their own respective methods. The lack of emergence of the ball and playing after the demonstration did not affect the learning performance strongly. This suggests that in dogs the outcome of a demonstration plays only a restricted role in the manifestation of social learning.
ISSN:0735-7036
1939-2087
DOI:10.1037/0735-7036.117.2.156