The communicative and social abilities of dogs are
quite unique in the animal kingdom. Dogs are used in many aspects of human life
including as tools: smelling dangerous explosives in hidden cargo, and as
family members: treated with as much love and care as someone we share our own
DNA with. Studies have shown that dogs’ social skills are unusually skilled,
especially when it comes to cooperation and communication with humans. A study by Brian Hare illustrated the fact that dogs have an uncanny ability to read human social skills and respond in ways that even our closest ape relatives do not. Some of the theories behind this were that dogs are reared in human environments and learn from us. Researchers tested this theory and found that puppies that were litter raised (meaning had little to no human contact) and puppies raised in human homes both had the same ability to use a human pointing and gaze cue. They also tested dogs in different age groups and found that puppies as young as 9 weeks old even had this ability and did just as well as much older dogs. Another theory was that dogs inherited their social skills from wolves, which are an extremely social species. However, wolf puppies raised by humans have shown to be much less able to find hidden food when given cues by humans, such as pointing, compared to their domesticated counterparts. And finally, the last theory is convergent evolution between humans and dogs. This theory has been tested by a group of scientists that reared fox kits for their approachability and friendliness towards humans. Not only did they find that the more domesticated the foxes became the more their temperament changed, but also that that physical demeanor changed. The foxes began wagging their tails and had ears that drooped. Their coat colors also changed and became more varied. Therefore, the convergent evolution theory seems to be the closest explanation for domesticated dog's abilities to follow social cues from humans. Experiments are now being conducted on dogs to show the extent to which dogs are able to read human behavior compared to chimpanzees and other primates. They are being tested on cooperation with humans, as well as problem solving using humans as an aid. These experiments help prove that domestication and selection may play a much larger role in how humans and animals evolve over time.
References
Plyusnina, I., Oskina, I. and Trut, L. 1991. An analysis of fear and
aggression during early development of behaviour in silver foxes (
Vulpes vulpes).
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 32 (2), pp. 253--268.
Hare, B. and Tomasello, M. 2005. Human-like social skills in dogs?.
Trends in cognitive sciences, 9 (9), pp. 439--444.
Really interesting post. The silver fox story is a nice example. Do you know if there are breed differences in cognitive ability in dogs?
ReplyDeleteHello Tasmin! Most people do believe there are differences in the cognitive abilities of dogs and there have been lists created that supposedly order dog breeds by their intelligence. I have not yet seen a scientific study that specifically tested the differences between dog breeds and their cognitive abilities, however that also means we would need to define "intelligence" in dogs. Whether that means how responsive and trainable they are or how they are able to solve specific problems without the help of humans. I do believe certain breeds have different cognitive abilities that most likely come from their selective breeding such as border collies, poodles, and german shepherds that are both easily trained and respond very well to human signals. I do like to think that all dogs have certain intellectual abilities but just like humans, it is more likely that they too vary individually in how smart they are.
ReplyDeleteI like convergent evolution between humans and dogs.
ReplyDeleteBut what I find more interesting is that behavior may have gone the other way, that is humans learnt dog social skill. It a very human view that we would think that we taught them everything
The social structure of dogs and of humans are seem more similar to each other than to wolves or chimps.
PS a good documentary on the topic "The Secret Life of the Dog"