[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/ Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Looking back at ‘looking back’: operationalising referential gaze for dingoes in an unsolvable task

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Animal Cognition Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper examined the performance of dingoes (Canis dingo) on the rope-pulling task, previously used by Miklósi et al. (Curr Biol 13:763–766, 2003) to highlight a key distinction in the problem-solving behaviour of wolves compared to dogs when in the company of humans. That is, when dogs were confronted with an unsolvable task, following a solvable version of the task they looked back or gazed at the human, whereas, wolves did not. We replicated the rope-pulling task using 12 sanctuary-housed dingoes and used the Miklósi et al. (Curr Biol 13:763–766, 2003) definition of looking back behaviour to analyse the data. However, at least three different types of look backs were observed in our study. We, then developed a more accurate operational definition of looking back behaviour that was task specific and reanalysed the data. We found that the operational definition employed greatly influences the results, with vague definitions potentially overestimating the prevalence of looking back behaviour. Thus, caution must be taken when interpreting the results of studies utilising looking back as behaviour linked to assistance seeking during problem solving. We present a more stringent definition and make suggestions for future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
£29.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agnetta B, Hare B, Tomasello M (2000) Cues to food location that domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) of different ages do and do not use. Anim Cogn 3:107–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrera G, Mustaca A, Bentosela M (2011) Communication between domestic dogs and humans: effects of shelter housing upon the gaze to the human. Anim Cogn 14:727–734

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bentosela M, Barrera G, Jakovcevic A, Elgier A, Mustaca A (2008) Effect of reinforcement, reinforcer omission and extinction on a communicative response in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Behav Process 78:464–469

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentosela M, Jakovcevic A, Elgier A, Mustaca A, Papini M (2009) Incentive contrast in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). J Comp Psychol 123:125–130

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper J, Ashton C, Bishop S, West R, Mills D, Young R (2003) Clever hounds: social cognition in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Appl Anim Behav Sci 81:229–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csibra G (2010) Recognizing communicative intentions in infancy. Mind Lang 25:141–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fox M (1971) Behaviour of wolves, dogs and related canids. Jonathan Cape, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Frank H, Frank M (1983) Inhibition training in wolves and dogs. Behav Process 8:363–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank H, Frank M (1985) Comparative manipulation-test performance in ten-week-old wolves (Canis lupus) and Alaskan Malamutes (Canis familiaris): a Piagetian interpretation. J Comp Psychol 99:266–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gácsi M, Gyóri B, Miklósi A, Virányi Z, Kubinyi E, Topál J, Csányi V (2005) Species-specific differences and similarities in the behavior of hand-raised dog and wolf pups in social situations with humans. Dev Psychobiol 47:111–122

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaunet F (2008) How do guide dogs of blind owners and pet dogs of sighted owners (Canis familiaris) ask their owners for food? Anim Cogn 11:475–483

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaunet F (2009) How do guide dogs and pet dogs (Canis familiaris) ask their owners for their toy and for playing? Anim Cogn 13:311–323

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaunet F, Deputte B (2011) Functionally referential and intentional communication in the domestic dog: effects of spatial and social contexts. Anim Cogn 14:849–860

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hare B (2004) Domestic dogs use humans as tools. In: Bekoff M (ed) Encyclopedia of animal behaviour, vol 1. Greenwood Press, Westport, pp 277–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemmer H (1983/1990) Domestication: the decline of environmental appreciation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • Hiestand N (1989) A comparison of problem-solving and spatial orientation in the wolf (Canis lupus) and dog (Canis familiaris). Doctoral Dissertation, University of Connecticut

  • Jakovcevic A, Elgier A, Mustaca A, Bentosela M (2010) Breed differences in dogs’ (Canis familiaris) gaze to the human face. Behav Process 84:602–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakovcevic A, Mustaca A, Bentosela M (2012) Do more sociable dogs gaze longer to the human face than less sociabile ones. Behav Process 90:217–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall-Pescini S, Passalacqua C, Barnard S, Valsecchi P, Prato-Previde E (2009) Agility and search and rescue training differently affects pet dogs’ socio-cognitive tasks. Behav Process 81:416–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mech LD (1991) The way of the wolf. Voyageur Press, Stillwater

    Google Scholar 

  • Merola I, Prato-Previde E, Marshall-Pescini S (2012) Social referencing in dog–owner dyads? Anim Cogn 15:175–185

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miklósi A (2007) Dog behaviour, evolution and cognition. Oxford University Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Miklósi Á, Polgárdi R, Topál J, Csányi V (2000) Intentional behaviour in dog-human communication: an experimental analysis of “showing” behaviour in the dog. Anim Cogn 3:159–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miklósi Á, Kubinyi E, Topál J, Gácsi M, Virányi Z, Csányi V (2003) A simple reason for a big difference: wolves do not look back at humans, but dogs do. Curr Biol 13:763–766

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miklósi A, Pongrácz P, Topal J, Csányi V, Lakatos G (2005) A comparative study of the use of visual communicative signals in interactions between dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans and cats (Felis catus) and humans. J Comp Psychol 119:179–186

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Osthaus B, Lea S, Slater A (2005) Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) fail to show understanding of means-end connections in a string-pulling task. Anim Cogn 8:37–47

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Packard J (2003) Wolf behaviour: reproductive, social and intelligent. In: Mech LD, Boitani L (eds) Wolves: behaviour, ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 35–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Passalacqua C, Marshall-Pescini S, Barnard S, Lakatos G, Valsecchi P, Prato-Previde E (2011) Human-directed gazing behaviour in puppies and adult dogs, Canis lupus familiaris. Anim Behav 82:1043–1050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pongrácz P, Miklósi A, Vida V, Csányi V (2005) The pet dogs ability for learning from a human demonstrator in a detour task is independent from the breed and age. Appl Anim Behav Sci 90:309–323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Range F, Viranyi Z (2011) Development of gaze following abilities in wolves (Canis lupus). PLoS One 6:e16888

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Range F, Moslinger H, Viranyi Z (2012) Domestication has not affected the understanding of means-end connections in dogs. Anim Cogn 15:597–607

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scott J, Fuller J (1965) Genetics and the social behaviour of the dog. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith B (2010) Cognition and behaviour in captive dingoes (Canis dingo). Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of South Australia

  • Smith B, Litchfield C (2010) Dingoes (Canis dingo) can use human social cues to locate hidden food. Anim Cogn 13:367–376

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Szokalski M, Litchfield C, Foster W. (2012) What can zookeepers tell us about interacting with big cats in captivity? Zoo Biol. doi:10.1002/zoo.21040

  • Udell M, Dorey N, Wynne C (2008) Wolves outperform dogs in following human social cues. Anim Behav 76:1767–1773

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Udell M, Dorey N, Wynne C (2011) Can your dog read your mind? Understanding the causes of canine perspective taking. Learn Behav 39:289–302

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Udell M, Spencer J, Dorey N, Wynne C (2012) Human-socialised wolves follow diverse human gestures… And they may not be alone. Int J Comp Psychol 25:97–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Virányi Z, Gácsi M, Kubinyi E, Topál J, Belényi B, Ujfalussy D, Miklósi A (2008) Comprehension of human pointing gestures in young human-reared wolves (Canis lupus) and dogs (Canis familiaris). Anim Cogn 11:373–387

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wilton A (2001) DNA methods of assessing dingo purity. In: Dickman C, Lunney D (eds) A symposium on the dingo. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman, pp 49–56

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Lyn and Peter Watson at the Dingo Discovery and Research Centre, Victoria Australia, for their generous help and support. Thanks also to Lyn Whitworth for assistance during data collection and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the Australian Dingo Foundation.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

All methods comply with the current laws of Australia (IMVS Animal Research Committee, project number 121/07).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, 44 Greenhill Road, Wayville, South Australia, 5034, Australia

    Bradley Philip Smith

  2. Australian Dingo Foundation, Toolern Vale, Victoria, 3337, Australia

    Bradley Philip Smith

  3. School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia, Magill, South Australia, 5072, Australia

    Carla Anita Litchfield

Authors
  1. Bradley Philip Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carla Anita Litchfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bradley Philip Smith.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Smith, B.P., Litchfield, C.A. Looking back at ‘looking back’: operationalising referential gaze for dingoes in an unsolvable task. Anim Cogn 16, 961–971 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-013-0629-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-013-0629-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation