24 research outputs found
Social Pre-treatment Modulates Attention Allocation to Transient and Stable Object Properties
Increasing evidence suggests that ostensive-communicative signals in social learning situations enable observers to focus their attention on the intrinsic features of an object (e.g., color) at the expense of ignoring transient object properties (e.g., location). Here we investigated whether off-line social cues, presented as social primes, have the same power to modulate attention allocation to stable and transient object properties as on-line ostensive-communicative cues. The first part of the experiment consisted of a pre-treatment phase, where adult male participants either received intensive social stimulation or were asked to perform non-social actions. Then, they participated in a change detection test, where they watched pairs of pictures depicting an array of five objects. On the second picture, a change occurred compared to the first picture. One object changed either its location (moving forward or backward) or was replaced by another object, and participants were required to indicate where the change had happened. We found that participants detected the change more successfully if it had happened in the location of the object; however, this difference was reduced following a socially intense pre-treatment phase. The results are discussed in relation to the claims of the natural pedagogy theory
Leadership and Path Characteristics during Walks Are Linked to Dominance Order and Individual Traits in Dogs
Movement interactions and the underlying social structure in groups have relevance across many social-living species. Collective motion of groups could be based on an âegalitarianâ decision system, but in practice it is often influenced by underlying social network structures and by individual characteristics. We investigated whether dominance rank and personality traits are linked to leader and follower roles during joint motion of family dogs. We obtained high-resolution spatio-temporal GPS trajectory data (823,148 data points) from six dogs belonging to the same household and their owner during 14 30â40 min unleashed walks. We identified several features of the dogs' paths (e.g., running speed or distance from the owner) which are characteristic of a given dog. A directional correlation analysis quantifies interactions between pairs of dogs that run loops jointly. We found that dogs play the role of the leader about 50â85% of the time, i.e. the leader and follower roles in a given pair are dynamically interchangable. However, on a longer timescale tendencies to lead differ consistently. The network constructed from these loose leaderâfollower relations is hierarchical, and the dogs' positions in the network correlates with the age, dominance rank, trainability, controllability, and aggression measures derived from personality questionnaires. We demonstrated the possibility of determining dominance rank and personality traits of an individual based only on its logged movement data. The collective motion of dogs is influenced by underlying social network structures and by characteristics such as personality differences. Our findings could pave the way for automated animal personality and human social interaction measurements
Oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms are associated with human directed social behavior in dogs (Canis familiaris)
The oxytocin system has a crucial role in human sociality;
several results prove that polymorphisms of the oxytocin
receptor gene are related to complex social behaviors in humans.
Dogs' parallel evolution with humans and their adaptation to the
human environment has made them a useful species to model human
social interactions. Previous research indicates that dogs are
eligible models for behavioral genetic research, as well. Based
on these previous findings, our research investigated
associations between human directed social behaviors and two
newly described (â212AG, 19131AG) and one known (rs8679684)
single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the regulatory regions
(5Ⲡand 3ⲠUTR) of the oxytocin receptor gene in German Shepherd
(N = 104) and Border Collie (N = 103) dogs. Dogs' behavior
traits have been estimated in a newly developed test series
consisting of five episodes: Greeting by a stranger, Separation
from the owner, Problem solving, Threatening approach, Hiding of
the owner. Buccal samples were collected and DNA was isolated
using standard protocols. SNPs in the 3Ⲡand 5ⲠUTR regions were
analyzed by polymerase chain reaction based techniques followed
by subsequent electrophoresis analysis. The geneâbehavior
association analysis suggests that oxytocin receptor gene
polymorphisms have an impact in both breeds on (i) proximity
seeking towards an unfamiliar person, as well as their owner,
and on (ii) how friendly dogs behave towards strangers, although
the mediating molecular regulatory mechanisms are yet unknown.
Based on these results, we conclude that similarly to humans,
the social behavior of dogs towards humans is influenced by the
oxytocin system
Behavioural responses to unexpected changes in reward quality
Successive negative contrast (SNC) effects are changes in anticipatory or consummatory behaviour
when animals unexpectedly receive a lower value reward than they have received previously. SNC
effects are often assumed to reflect frustration and appear to be influenced by background affective
state. However, alternative explanations of SNC, such as the functional-search hypothesis, do not
necessarily imply an aversive affective state. We tested 18 dogs in a SNC paradigm using a patch
foraging task. Dogs were tested in two conditions, once with the low value reward in all of five trials
(unshifted) and once when reward value was altered between high and low (shifted). Following a
reward downshift, subjects showed a SNC effect by switching significantly more often between
patches compared to the unshifted condition. However, approach latency, foraging time and quantity
consumed did not differ between conditions, suggesting non-affective functional search behaviour
rather than frustration. There was no relationship between strength of SNC and anxiety-related
behaviours as measured in a novel object test and a personality questionnaire (C-BARQ). However,
associations with the C-BARQ scores for Trainability and Stranger directed aggression suggest a
possible link with behavioural flexibility and coping style. While reward quality clearly affects incentive
motivation, the relationship between SNC, frustration and background affective state requires further
exploration