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A wolfdog point of view on the impossible task paradigm
- Source :
- Animal Cognition. 22:1073-1083
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2019.
-
Abstract
- To elucidate the role of domestication, we used the impossible task paradigm to test Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs with a known proportion of 'wolfblood' in their DNA and, as a control group for our subjects, we used German shepherd dogs. We hypothesized that the difference between wolves and domestic dogs is based on genetics and modified by obedience; if so, the looking back performance of the subject should be linked to its proportion of wolf-genes. To prove that, we observed 73 Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs, and 27 German shepherd dogs, and analysed their human-directed gazing behaviour during our test. Our apparatus consisted of a glass container placed upside down over a small amount of food. The test proceeded with three solvable trials, in which the subject could obtain the food by manipulating the container, followed by an unsolvable one in which the container was fixed onto the board. Our results suggest that there is no significant correlation between the probability of looking back in Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs and their proportion of 'wolf blood'. However, the probability of looking back was higher in German Shepherd dogs than in Czechoslovakian Wolfdogs (odds ratio = 9.1). German Shepherd dogs showed not only a higher frequency of looking back, but also the duration of their looks was longer.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Wolfdog
media_common.quotation_subject
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Discount points
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Task (project management)
Odds
Domestication
German
Dogs
Animals
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
media_common
Wolves
biology
05 social sciences
Glass container
biology.organism_classification
language.human_language
Obedience
Test (assessment)
language
Psychology
Social psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14359456 and 14359448
- Volume :
- 22
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Animal Cognition
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....67f10fcf81a1a90a9100084e6112c04a
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-019-01298-7