Human-directed Behaviour Research Articles

The role of domestication and experience in \u2018looking back\u2019 towards humans in an unsolvable task

A key element thought to have changed during domestication is dogs’ propensity to communicate with humans, particularly their inclination to gaze at them. A classic test to measure this is the ‘unsolvable task’, where after repeated successes in obtaining a reward by object-manipulation, the animal is confronted with an unsolvable version of the task. ‘Looking back’ at humans has been considered an expression of dogs seeking help. While it occurs more in dogs than in socialized wolves, the level of exposure to human communication also appears to play a role. We tested similarly raised adult wolves and mixed breed dogs, pet dogs and free-ranging dogs. Unlike previous studies, as well as species and levels of socialization, we included ‘persistence’ in trying to solve the task as a potential explanatory factor. Wolves were more persistent than all dog groups. Regardless of socialization or species, less persistent animals looked back sooner and longer. Free-ranging dogs, despite little exposure to dog-human communication, behaved similarly to other dogs. Together, results suggest that basic wolf-dog differences in motivation and exploration may override differences in human-directed behaviour when animals are equally socialized, and that once the human is considered a social partner, looking behaviour occurs easily.

Goats display audience-dependent human-directed gazing behaviour in a problem-solving task.

Domestication is an important factor driving changes in animal cognition and behaviour. In particular, the capacity of dogs to communicate in a referential and intentional way with humans is considered a key outcome of how domestication as a companion animal shaped the canid brain. However, the lack of comparison with other domestic animals makes general conclusions about how domestication has affected these important cognitive features difficult. We investigated human-directed behaviour in an 'unsolvable problem' task in a domestic, but non-companion species: goats. During the test, goats experienced a forward-facing or an away-facing person. They gazed towards the forward-facing person earlier and for longer and showed more gaze alternations and a lower latency until the first gaze alternation when the person was forward-facing. Our results provide strong evidence for audience-dependent human-directed visual orienting behaviour in a species that was domesticated primarily for production, and show similarities with the referential and intentional communicative behaviour exhibited by domestic companion animals such as dogs and horses. This indicates that domestication has a much broader impact on heterospecific communication than previously believed.

His Bark is Worse than His Bite: Perceptions and Rationalization of Canine Aggressive Behavior

Abstract Qualitative methods are increasingly used to investigate the complexities of the dog-human relationship. In order to inform a larger study of human dog interaction, a focus group study was carried out to address the question ‘How is aggressive behavior in dogs perceived and rationalized by people who have experience of dog behavior?’ Six focus groups, including three ‘non-professional’ groups (two groups of dog owners and one group of amateur trainers) and three ‘professional’ groups (a behaviorist group, veterinary group and academic group) were carried out, involving participants who were recruited opportunistically. The focus group transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings indicated that participants who do not work with dogs in a professional capacity are largely defensive of dogs when discussing aggressive behavior. However, these participants also discussed factors that make a dog ‘risky’ and how responsible owners manage that risk and the characteristics of ‘dangerous dogs’. For the professional groups, aggressive behavior in dogs presents a barrier to everyday work. They considered working with the owners of dogs showing aggressive behavior and battling anthropogenic stereotypes and misconceptions to be part of the professional challenge. Professionals also contributed views on the nature of ‘dangerous dogs’ and demonstrated awareness of how perceptions could be distorted by the media and propagation of stereotypes. This research highlights the variability of perceptions about canine aggressive behavior. Findings can inform the critical interpretation of quantitative results, and offer a foundation for quantitative study of human directed aggressive behavior in dogs.

Definition and management of human directed aggressive behavior of dogs in the UK and Japan

s / Journal of Veterinary Behavior 9 (2014) e1ee19 e9 respectively, and were displayed when the dogs were directly approached by their trainers after they were asked to lie down/sit and stay. No statistical differences were found in any behavior between the two groups. Our results showed that the frequency of training and expertise of the trainer did not influence the presence of stress-related behaviors in dogs. Further analysis should be conducted to investigate whether the response of dogs to commands vary between groups.

Human–animal relationships in zoo‐housed orangutans (P. abelii) and gorillas (G. g. gorilla): The effects of familiarity

I examined human-animal relationships (HARs) in zoo-housed orangutans (Pongo abelii) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) to see if they followed patterns similar to conspecific relationships in great apes and humans. Familiarity and social relationships guide humans' and great apes' behaviors with conspecifics. Inter-individual relationships, based on shared social history, and "generalized" relationships, based on a history of interactions with relevant classes of individuals, guide behavior with familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics, respectively. I examined whether both familiarity and social relationships similarly guides great apes' cross-species interactions with humans. I used repeated measures MANOVA to compare hourly rates and average durations of ape-initiated human-directed behaviors (HDBs) between familiar and unfamiliar humans and between great ape species. HDB patterns were consistent with familiarity-based HAR predictions, indicating more negative relationships with unfamiliar humans and more positive relationships with familiar humans. Findings for unfamiliar humans are consistent with negative effects of humans on apes' behavior reported in traditional visitor effect studies (VES). However, findings for familiar humans may be overlooked in VES due to pooling across levels of human familiarity or failure to consider humans other than primarily unfamiliar visitors. Additionally, species differences in apes' HDBs suggest that data pooling across species, common in many zoo studies, may mask important differences. These findings have important methodological implications for studies of human-animal interaction as well as for captive animal wellbeing.

Do Horses Expect Humans to Solve Their Problems?

Domestic animals are highly capable of detecting human cues, while wild relatives tend to perform less well (e.g., responding to pointing gestures). It is suggested that domestication may have led to the development of such cognitive skills. Here, we hypothesized that because domestic animals are so attentive and dependant to humans’ actions for resources, the counter effect may be a decline of self sufficiency, such as individual task solving. Here we show a negative correlation between the performance in a learning task (opening a chest) and the interest shown by horses toward humans, despite high motivation expressed by investigative behaviors directed at the chest. If human-directed attention reflects the development of particular skills in domestic animals, this is to our knowledge the first study highlighting a link between human-directed behaviors and impaired individual solving task skills (ability to solve a task by themselves) in horses.

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) flexibly adjust their human-directed behavior to the actions of their human partners in a problem situation.

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have been shown to actively initiate triadic communicative interactions by looking at a human partner or by alternating their gaze between the human and an object when being faced with an out-of-reach reward or an unsolvable problem. It has hardly been investigated, however, whether dogs flexibly adjust their human-directed behavior to the actions of their partners, which indicate their willingness and abilities to help them when they are faced with a problem. Here, in two experiments, we confronted dogs-after initially allowing them to learn how to manipulate an apparatus-with two problem situations: with an empty apparatus and a blocked apparatus. In Experiment 1, we showed that dogs looked back at their owners more when the owners had previously encouraged them, independently from the problem they faced. In Experiment 2, we provided dogs with two experimenters and allowed them to learn through an initial phase that each of the experimenters could solve one of the two problems: the Filler re-baited the empty apparatus and the Helper unblocked the blocked apparatus. We found that dogs could learn to recognize the ability of the Filler and spent time close to her when the apparatus was empty. Independently from the problem, however, they always approached the Helper first. The results of the present study indicate that dogs may have a limited understanding of physical problems and how they can be solved by a human partner. Nevertheless, dogs are able to adjust their behavior to situation-specific characteristics of their human partner's behavior.

Changes in emotional competences of drug offenders during dog-assisted group training (MTI)

learn how to manipulate an apparatus to get food reward efficiently. The owners of 1 group of dogs (n 5 13) were asked to reinforce the looking behavior of their dogs by encouraging them verbally whereas owners of the other experimental group (n 5 12) did not encourage their dogs throughout the training session. After the training session, 2 tests were carried out. In Test 1 the apparatus was empty, whereas in Test 2 the apparatus stopped working after the dogs had obtained the first pieces of food reward. To investigate the gazing behavior of the dogs we measured the duration and direction of gazes. Although the latency to look at the owner was the same for both groups (ANOVA, F 5 2.72, P 5 0.106), we found that in both Test 1 (apparatus empty) and Test 2 (apparatus blocked) dogs that were encouraged during the training session tended to look for longer periods at their owners compared to dogs that were not encouraged (ANOVA, F 5 14.13, P 5 0.001). In Test 1 (apparatus empty), dogs of both experimental groups increased their looking time toward the door through which the experimenter had usually entered to refill the apparatus during the training session compared to Test 2 (apparatus blocked) (ANOVA, F 5 7.99, P 5 0.007). The results indicate that the former encouragement increases human-directed gazing behavior in dogs. However, even dogs that did not receive encouragement increased their looking time toward the owner to some extent when faced with a problem. Further, the results of Test 1 (apparatus empty) indicated that dogs associated the experimenter (i.e., the door where she usually entered) with the refilling of the empty apparatus.

Emergence, propagation or disappearance of novel behavioral patterns in the habituated chimpanzees of Mahale: a review

Each local population of chimpanzees shows cultural variation, but little is known about how behavioral variations first emerge, and how often variants spread to other individuals and then become fixed as a local culture in chimpanzee society. Although field studies of chimpanzees are still too short to answer these questions definitively, it may stimulate further study in various sites to summarize the developments observed over the past 40 years at Mahale, Tanzania. Innovative patterns were operationally defined as new behavioral patterns performed by M group chimpanzees from 1981 onwards. Innovations included patterns of feeding (n = 8), human-directed behavior (n = 3), hygiene behavior (n = 4), maternal carrying of infants (n = 2), courtship (n = 2), play (n = 6), intimidation displays (n = 3), and quasi-grooming (n = 4). Although most patterns were repeated later by other individuals, six patterns were never seen performed by another individual, and eight patterns were performed by one or a few individuals but social transmission was unlikely. Thus, innovation was not rare, but emergence of fashion or establishment of traditions seems to occur rarely in chimpanzee society.

Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors in Adolescents: An Investigation into Associations with Attachment and Empathy

ABSTRACTThe normal development of empathy has been proposed to be imperative to the healthy emotional and social functioning of youths. In contrast, compromised levels of empathy have been linked to an increased propensity to engage in antisocial behaviors, including animal cruelty. Previous findings have revealed parent attachment to be intrinsically linked to the development of empathy. This association has been shown to play a role in predicting the expression of various outcome behaviors, including both those which are prosocial in nature, and those which are antisocial, and potentially aggressive. This study examines these associations in a sample of 281 12- to 18-year-old students. The aims included the investigation of the direct predictive roles played by attachment and empathy for prosocial and antisocial behaviors directed at both humans and animals. We also investigated the mediating role played by empathy in these relationships. Attachment and empathy significantly predicted prosocial and antisocial behaviors, both individually, and in combination. Furthermore, empathy was found to serve a mediating role in the associations between attachment and: human-directed prosocial behavior, the humane treatment of animals, and animal cruelty. These findings expand upon existing literature by demonstrating that it is, at least partially, through empathy that attachment to parents predicts prosocial and antisocial behaviors during adolescence. This is in contrast to the direction of relationships implied by some previous findings and proposals, which have suggested that treating animals humanely fosters the normal development of empathy, for example. Notwithstanding the promising findings revealed by the current study, we recommend that replicating this research using a larger sample will assist in addressing the limited generalizability identified in the current study. It is further proposed that the use of a lie scale could limit the influence of social desirability responding. Future research is also needed to determine the direction of the demonstrated relationships.