Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing Cues
Dogs are one of the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity, leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity for understanding and responding to human referential gestur...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02818/full |
| _version_ | 1818293629159997440 |
|---|---|
| author | Debottam Bhattacharjee Sarab Mandal Sarab Mandal Piuli Shit Mebin George Varghese Mebin George Varghese Aayushi Vishnoi Aayushi Vishnoi Anindita Bhadra |
| author_facet | Debottam Bhattacharjee Sarab Mandal Sarab Mandal Piuli Shit Mebin George Varghese Mebin George Varghese Aayushi Vishnoi Aayushi Vishnoi Anindita Bhadra |
| author_sort | Debottam Bhattacharjee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dogs are one of the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity, leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity for understanding and responding to human referential gestures. The remarkable sociocognitive skills of pet dogs, while interacting with humans, is quite well established. However, studies regarding the free-ranging subpopulations are greatly lacking. The interactions of these dogs with humans are quite complex and multidimensional. For the first time, we tested 160 adult free-ranging dogs to understand their ability to follow relatively complex human referential gestures using dynamic and momentary distal pointing cues. We found that these dogs are capable of following distal pointing cues from humans to locate hidden food rewards. However, approximately half of the population tested showed a lack of tendency to participate even after successful familiarization with the experimental setup. A closer inspection revealed that anxious behavioral states of the individuals were responsible for such an outcome. Finally, we compared the results using data from an earlier study with dynamic proximal cues. We found that free-ranging dogs follow distal cues more accurately compared to proximal cue. We assume that life experiences with humans probably shape personalities of free-ranging dogs, which in turn influence their responsiveness to human communicative gestures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T03:18:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-193485ddc8064d4c8eb1e0f18bd3f926 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T03:18:53Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-193485ddc8064d4c8eb1e0f18bd3f9262022-12-22T00:01:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-01-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.02818507348Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing CuesDebottam Bhattacharjee0Sarab Mandal1Sarab Mandal2Piuli Shit3Mebin George Varghese4Mebin George Varghese5Aayushi Vishnoi6Aayushi Vishnoi7Anindita Bhadra8Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Kolkata, IndiaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Kolkata, IndiaDepartment of Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, IndiaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Kolkata, IndiaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Kolkata, IndiaDepartment of Zoology, CMS College Kottayam, Kottayam, IndiaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Kolkata, IndiaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal, Bhopal, IndiaDepartment of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Kolkata, IndiaDogs are one of the most common species to be found as pets and have been subjects of human curiosity, leading to extensive research on their socialization with humans. One of the dominant themes in dog cognition pertains to their capacity for understanding and responding to human referential gestures. The remarkable sociocognitive skills of pet dogs, while interacting with humans, is quite well established. However, studies regarding the free-ranging subpopulations are greatly lacking. The interactions of these dogs with humans are quite complex and multidimensional. For the first time, we tested 160 adult free-ranging dogs to understand their ability to follow relatively complex human referential gestures using dynamic and momentary distal pointing cues. We found that these dogs are capable of following distal pointing cues from humans to locate hidden food rewards. However, approximately half of the population tested showed a lack of tendency to participate even after successful familiarization with the experimental setup. A closer inspection revealed that anxious behavioral states of the individuals were responsible for such an outcome. Finally, we compared the results using data from an earlier study with dynamic proximal cues. We found that free-ranging dogs follow distal cues more accurately compared to proximal cue. We assume that life experiences with humans probably shape personalities of free-ranging dogs, which in turn influence their responsiveness to human communicative gestures.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02818/fullinterspecific communicationreferential gesturessocial cognitiondistal cuespoint following |
| spellingShingle | Debottam Bhattacharjee Sarab Mandal Sarab Mandal Piuli Shit Mebin George Varghese Mebin George Varghese Aayushi Vishnoi Aayushi Vishnoi Anindita Bhadra Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing Cues Frontiers in Psychology interspecific communication referential gestures social cognition distal cues point following |
| title | Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing Cues |
| title_full | Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing Cues |
| title_fullStr | Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing Cues |
| title_full_unstemmed | Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing Cues |
| title_short | Free-Ranging Dogs Are Capable of Utilizing Complex Human Pointing Cues |
| title_sort | free ranging dogs are capable of utilizing complex human pointing cues |
| topic | interspecific communication referential gestures social cognition distal cues point following |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02818/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT debottambhattacharjee freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT sarabmandal freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT sarabmandal freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT piulishit freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT mebingeorgevarghese freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT mebingeorgevarghese freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT aayushivishnoi freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT aayushivishnoi freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues AT aninditabhadra freerangingdogsarecapableofutilizingcomplexhumanpointingcues |