Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an Opening
Very little research has focused on canines’ understanding of their own size, and their ability to apply this understanding to their surroundings. The current study tests domestic dogs’ judgment of their body size in relation to a changing environment in two novel experimental situations: when encou...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-02-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/3/620 |
| _version_ | 1797395098568228864 |
|---|---|
| author | Alexandra Horowitz Eloise West Molly Ball Blakeley Bagwell |
| author_facet | Alexandra Horowitz Eloise West Molly Ball Blakeley Bagwell |
| author_sort | Alexandra Horowitz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Very little research has focused on canines’ understanding of their own size, and their ability to apply this understanding to their surroundings. The current study tests domestic dogs’ judgment of their body size in relation to a changing environment in two novel experimental situations: when encountering an opening of decreasing height (Study 1) and when negotiating an opening when carrying a stick in their mouth (Study 2). We hypothesized that if dogs understand their own body size, they will accurately judge when an opening is too small for their body to fit through, showing longer latencies to approach the smaller openings and adjusting their body appropriately to get through—although this judgment may not extend to when their body size is effectively increased. In line with these hypotheses, we found that the latency for subjects to reach an aperture they could easily fit through was significantly shorter than to one which was almost too small to fit through. We also found that the order of subjects’ adjustments to negotiate an aperture was invariant across individuals, indicating that dogs’ perception of affordances to fit through an aperture is action-scaled. Preliminary results suggest that dogs’ approach behavior is different when a horizontal appendage is introduced, but that dogs were able to alter their behavior with experience. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that dogs understand their own body size and the affordances of their changing environment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:29:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-696f3a165c2246eaaa04a0d46fe67be7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:29:24Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-696f3a165c2246eaaa04a0d46fe67be72023-12-11T18:35:38ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152021-02-0111362010.3390/ani11030620Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an OpeningAlexandra Horowitz0Eloise West1Molly Ball2Blakeley Bagwell3Dog Cognition Lab., Department of Psychology, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027, USADog Cognition Lab., Department of Psychology, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027, USADog Cognition Lab., Department of Psychology, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027, USADog Cognition Lab., Department of Psychology, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027, USAVery little research has focused on canines’ understanding of their own size, and their ability to apply this understanding to their surroundings. The current study tests domestic dogs’ judgment of their body size in relation to a changing environment in two novel experimental situations: when encountering an opening of decreasing height (Study 1) and when negotiating an opening when carrying a stick in their mouth (Study 2). We hypothesized that if dogs understand their own body size, they will accurately judge when an opening is too small for their body to fit through, showing longer latencies to approach the smaller openings and adjusting their body appropriately to get through—although this judgment may not extend to when their body size is effectively increased. In line with these hypotheses, we found that the latency for subjects to reach an aperture they could easily fit through was significantly shorter than to one which was almost too small to fit through. We also found that the order of subjects’ adjustments to negotiate an aperture was invariant across individuals, indicating that dogs’ perception of affordances to fit through an aperture is action-scaled. Preliminary results suggest that dogs’ approach behavior is different when a horizontal appendage is introduced, but that dogs were able to alter their behavior with experience. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that dogs understand their own body size and the affordances of their changing environment.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/3/620domestic dogsaffordancesbehaviorbody sizesize sensesize perception |
| spellingShingle | Alexandra Horowitz Eloise West Molly Ball Blakeley Bagwell Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an Opening Animals domestic dogs affordances behavior body size size sense size perception |
| title | Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an Opening |
| title_full | Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an Opening |
| title_fullStr | Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an Opening |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an Opening |
| title_short | Can Dogs Limbo? Dogs’ Perception of Affordances for Negotiating an Opening |
| title_sort | can dogs limbo dogs perception of affordances for negotiating an opening |
| topic | domestic dogs affordances behavior body size size sense size perception |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/3/620 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alexandrahorowitz candogslimbodogsperceptionofaffordancesfornegotiatinganopening AT eloisewest candogslimbodogsperceptionofaffordancesfornegotiatinganopening AT mollyball candogslimbodogsperceptionofaffordancesfornegotiatinganopening AT blakeleybagwell candogslimbodogsperceptionofaffordancesfornegotiatinganopening |