Comprehension of human communicative signs in pet dogs (Canis familiaris).

Abstract

On the basis of a study by D. J. Povinelli, D. T. Bierschwale, and C. G. Cech (1999), the performance of family dogs (Canis familiaris) was examined in a 2-way food choice task in which 4 types of directional cues were given by the experimenter: pointing and gazing, head-nodding ("at target"), head turning above the correct container ("above target"), and glancing only ("eyes only"). The results showed that the performance of the dogs resembled more closely that of the children in D. J. Povinelli et al.'s study, in contrast to the chimpanzees' performance in the same study. It seems that dogs, like children, interpret the test situation as being a form of communication. The hypothesis is that this similarity is attributable to the social experience and acquired social routines in dogs because they spend more time in close contact with humans than apes do, and as a result dogs are probably more experienced in the recognition of human gestures.

Cites (28)

1. Primate cognition
   Tomasello, Michael, Call, Josep · 1997
2. Multiple and Ancient Origins of the Domestic Dog
   Vilà, Carles, Savolainen, Peter, Maldonado, Jesús E., Amorim, Isabel R., Rice, John E., Honeycutt, Rodney L., Crandall, Keith A., Lundeberg, Joakim, Wayne, Robert K. · 1997 · Science
3. Chimpanzees know what conspecifics do and do not see
   Hare, Brian, Call, Josep, Agnetta, Bryan, Tomasello, Michael · 2000 · Animal Behaviour
4. Joint Attention
   2014 · Psychology Press eBooks
5. What Young Chimpanzees Know about Seeing
   Povinelli, Daniel J., Eddy, Timothy J., Hobson, R. Peter, Tomasello, Michael · 1996 · Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development
6. Attachment behavior in dogs (Canis familiaris): A new application of Ainsworth's (1969) Strange Situation Test.
   Topál, József, Miklósi, Ádám, Csányi, Vilmos, Dóka, Antal · 1998 · Journal of Comparative Psychology
7. Five primate species follow the visual gaze of conspecifics
   TOMASELLO, MICHAEL, CALL, JOSEP, HARE, BRIAN · 1998 · Animal Behaviour
8. Reaching into thought: the minds of the great apes
   1997 · Choice Reviews Online
9. Use of experimenter-given cues in dogs
   Miklösi, Á., Polgárdi, R., Topál, J., Csányi, V. · 1998 · Animal Cognition
10. Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) use human and conspecific social cues to locate hidden food.
    Brian A. Hare, Michael Tomasello · 1999 · Journal of comparative psychology

Show all 28 references

Cited by (368)

1. The Domestication of Social Cognition in Dogs
   Hare, Brian, Brown, Michelle, Williamson, Christina, Tomasello, Michael · 2002 · Science
2. Human-like social skills in dogs?
   Hare, Brian, Tomasello, Michael · 2005 · Trends in Cognitive Sciences
3. A comparative analysis of animals' understanding of the human pointing gesture
   Miklósi, Ádam, Soproni, Krisztina · 2006 · Animal Cognition
4. Making inferences about the location of hidden food: Social dog, causal ape.
   Bräuer, Juliane, Kaminski, Juliane, Riedel, Julia, Call, Josep, Tomasello, Michael · 2006 · Journal of Comparative Psychology
5. Domestic goats, Capra hircus, follow gaze direction and use social cues in an object choice task
   Kaminski, Juliane, Riedel, Julia, Call, Josep, Tomasello, Michael · 2005 · Animal Behaviour

See all 368

Related (10)

1. Dogs’ understanding of human forms of communication
   Juliane Kaminski · 2009 · Journal of Veterinary Behavior
2. Domestic dogs comprehend human communication with iconic signs
   Juliane Kaminski, Sebastian Tempelmann, Josep Call, Michael Tomasello · 2009 · Developmental Science
3. Use of experimenter-given cues in dogs
   Miklösi, Á., Polgárdi, R., Topál, J., Csányi, V. · 1998 · Animal Cognition
4. Dogs' ( Canis familaris ) responsiveness to human pointing gestures.
   Soproni, Krisztina, Miklósi, Ádám, Topál, József, Csányi, Vilmos · 2002 · Journal of Comparative Psychology
5. Dogs (Canis familiaris) are Adapted to Receive Human Communication
   Juliane Kaminski · 2008 · Research and perspectives in neurosciences

See all