Evidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppies
Abstract In human infants, the ability to show gaze alternations between an object of interest and another individual is considered fundamental to the development of complex social-cognitive abilities. Here we show that well-socialised dog puppies show gaze alternations in two contexts at an early a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2024-09-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01898-y |
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| author | Stefanie Riemer Alina Bonorand Lisa Stolzlechner |
| author_facet | Stefanie Riemer Alina Bonorand Lisa Stolzlechner |
| author_sort | Stefanie Riemer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In human infants, the ability to show gaze alternations between an object of interest and another individual is considered fundamental to the development of complex social-cognitive abilities. Here we show that well-socialised dog puppies show gaze alternations in two contexts at an early age, 6–7 weeks. Thus, 69.4% of puppies in a novel object test and 45.59% of puppies during an unsolvable task alternated their gaze at least once between a person’s face and the object. In both contexts, the frequency of gaze alternations was positively correlated with the duration of whimpering, supporting the communicative nature of puppies’ gazing. Furthermore, the number of gaze alternations in the two contexts was correlated, indicating an underlying propensity for gazing at humans despite likely different motivations in the two contexts. Similar to humans, and unlike great apes or wolves, domestic dogs show gaze alternations from an early age if they are well-socialised. They appear to have a genetic preparedness to communicate with humans via gaze alternations early in ontogeny, but they may need close contact with humans for this ability to emerge, highlighting the interactive effects of domestication and environmental factors on behavioural development in dogs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-98d0b0089de548eba76b86570cffedc1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-09-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-98d0b0089de548eba76b86570cffedc12025-01-26T12:44:01ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562024-09-0127111310.1007/s10071-024-01898-yEvidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppiesStefanie Riemer0Alina Bonorand1Lisa Stolzlechner2Messerli Research Institute, Department of Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Vetmeduni ViennaDivision of Animal Welfare, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of BernDepartment of Behavioral & Cognitive Biology, University of ViennaAbstract In human infants, the ability to show gaze alternations between an object of interest and another individual is considered fundamental to the development of complex social-cognitive abilities. Here we show that well-socialised dog puppies show gaze alternations in two contexts at an early age, 6–7 weeks. Thus, 69.4% of puppies in a novel object test and 45.59% of puppies during an unsolvable task alternated their gaze at least once between a person’s face and the object. In both contexts, the frequency of gaze alternations was positively correlated with the duration of whimpering, supporting the communicative nature of puppies’ gazing. Furthermore, the number of gaze alternations in the two contexts was correlated, indicating an underlying propensity for gazing at humans despite likely different motivations in the two contexts. Similar to humans, and unlike great apes or wolves, domestic dogs show gaze alternations from an early age if they are well-socialised. They appear to have a genetic preparedness to communicate with humans via gaze alternations early in ontogeny, but they may need close contact with humans for this ability to emerge, highlighting the interactive effects of domestication and environmental factors on behavioural development in dogs.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01898-yGaze alternationReferential lookingOntogenyDog-human communicationEye contactSocial referencing |
| spellingShingle | Stefanie Riemer Alina Bonorand Lisa Stolzlechner Evidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppies Animal Cognition Gaze alternation Referential looking Ontogeny Dog-human communication Eye contact Social referencing |
| title | Evidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppies |
| title_full | Evidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppies |
| title_fullStr | Evidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppies |
| title_short | Evidence for the communicative function of human-directed gazing in 6- to 7-week-old dog puppies |
| title_sort | evidence for the communicative function of human directed gazing in 6 to 7 week old dog puppies |
| topic | Gaze alternation Referential looking Ontogeny Dog-human communication Eye contact Social referencing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01898-y |
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