Abstract
The ability to coordinate with others' head and eye orientation to look in the same direction is considered a key step towards an understanding of others mental states like attention and intention. Here, we investigated the ontogeny and habituation patterns of gaze following into distant space and behind barriers in nine hand-raised wolves. We found that these wolves could use conspecific as well as human gaze cues even in the barrier task, which is thought to be more cognitively advanced than gazing into distant space. Moreover, while gaze following into distant space was already present at the age of 14 weeks and subjects did not habituate to repeated cues, gazing around a barrier developed considerably later and animals quickly habituated, supporting the hypothesis that different cognitive mechanisms may underlie the two gaze following modalities. More importantly, this study demonstrated that following another individuals' gaze around a barrier is not restricted to primates and corvids but is also present in canines, with remarkable between-group similarities in the ontogeny of this behaviour. This sheds new light on the evolutionary origins of and selective pressures on gaze following abilities as well as on the sensitivity of domestic dogs towards human communicative cues.
Highlights
One central feature of social life and communication in humans is the monitoring of others’ head and eye orientation [1]
The wolves followed the gaze of the human demonstrator into distant space significantly more often in the first 2 seconds and faster in the entire test condition compared to the control condition
Wolves showed a reliable response to the gaze following cue already at the age of 14 weeks. This is relatively early in comparison to the development of that ability in the other mammalian species studied so far and might have to do with the earlier independence of wolves compared to primates
Summary
One central feature of social life and communication in humans is the monitoring of others’ head and eye orientation (gaze) [1]. Results on the development of gaze following abilities as well on habituating to others’ gaze cues seem to have confirmed that the two different modes of gaze following (into distant space and behind barriers) may reflect different cognitive mechanisms [18,19]. While the ravens quickly ceased responding to the model’s repeated gaze cues into distant space, they did not habituate to repeated gaze cues directed behind a barrier This differential habituation pattern of the two modes of gaze following suggests again that they rely on different cognitive mechanisms. Visual coordination, including following their partner’s gaze into distant space and around barriers, should be very adaptive to their survival It has been hypothesized, that, compared to domestic dogs, wolves may be less ready to accept humans as social partners [27,28]. Based on the only available data [21], we expected that wolves would quickly cease responding to repeated gaze cues into distant space but would show no habituation to repeated trials in the barrier task
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
