Abstract
Although there is ample data indicating that reward processing plays an important role in human psychopathologies and pharmaco- and psychotherapy treatment response, the corresponding animal-model research needs to be extended to models whose motivational and social dispositions are better generalizable than those of the traditional models. Accordingly, our aim was to develop and assess the reliability and validity of an owner-report rating scale of reward responsiveness in domestic dogs (N = 2149) and then to examine individual differences in reward responsiveness. Responsiveness was categorisable by reward type (ball/toy and food) and exhibited individual variability manifesting in age- and breed-related differences. Rating scale scores were associated with behavioural observation of reward processing, indicating evidence of convergent validity. Ball/toy and food reward responsiveness were associated with owner-rated hyperactivity-impulsivity‚ inattention and with differences in training, indicating evidence of concurrent validity. Extreme (vs. average) reward responsiveness was also predicted by dogs’ hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention‚ and extreme responsiveness was associated with increased likelihood of physical health and/or social problems. These findings are informative with regard to the dog as an animal model for various human behavioural and cognitive functions‚ and also for the dog in its own right as they are relevant to training and welfare.
Highlights
In accordance with the leading perspective put forth in the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)[1], reward processing is a multi-faceted construct comprised of approach motivation, initial and sustained responsiveness to reward attainment, reward learning and habit
Of all 30 corresponding items of our developed questionnaire (15 referring to ball/toy and 15 to food reward responsiveness, see Methods and Supplementary Text S1), considering modification and model fit indices as well as standardized factor loadings, 14 ball/toy reward responsiveness questions were retained, and these loaded onto one factor (f1, Ball/toy responsiveness, Ball/ toy responsiveness (B/TR), M = 2.91, SD = 0.95) and 10 food reward responsiveness questions were retained, and these loaded onto a second factor (f2, Food responsiveness, FR, M = 3.00, SD = 0.91)
Pathological levels of food and/or ball/toy reward responsiveness have not yet been established in dogs, excessive preoccupation with an object or toy is among the criteria for Canine Compulsive Disorder (CCD), a behavioural syndrome that is purportedly a good candidate animal model of human obsessive-compulsive disorders[71]. It is obviously beyond the scope of the CRSS to serve as a diagnostic tool for behavioural abnormalities, these results suggest that extreme high levels of reward responsiveness could have negative consequences and, as such, that it is an issue that needs further attention in canine research
Summary
In accordance with the leading perspective put forth in the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC)[1], reward processing is a multi-faceted construct comprised of approach motivation, initial and sustained responsiveness to reward attainment, reward learning and habit. Psychometric rating scales originally designed to measure human behaviour have been successfully adapted as human-report measures of dog behaviour, similar to parent-report measures of child functioning[27,28,29] It is of no surprise, given these considerations, that over the last 20 years, canine ethological research[30] has focused on the dog as a model for human behaviours and neurodevelopmental[31] and psychiatric disorders, including ones relevant to reward processing, such as inequity aversion[32], inhibition[33,34], social cause and effect (contingency) detection[35], social learning[36] as well as ADHD27,37. Individual differences in dogs in reward sensitivity may have implications for both short and long-term response to training and for other aspects of welfare
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