Canine Theory of Mind?

Wider research context An important question in the study of canine cognition is how dogs understand us humans, given that they show impressive abilities for interacting and communicating with us, which may include an understanding of seeing and knowing. The latter has been one of the most controversially debated questions in comparative cognition, because animals might simply rely on directly observable cues and on what they themselves can see when they assess what others can see. Recently, we found that dogs choices between two human informants were strongly influenced by cues related to the humans visual access to the food, even when the two informants behaved identically. And we provided first evidence that they can distinguish between misleading human informants that have either a true or false belief about the location of food. However, the fact that the dogs responded differently than human children and great apes calls for further investigations. Hypotheses The project aims at testing two main hypotheses about dogs perspective taking abilities using novel experimental and methodological approaches: 1. Dogs are able to use previous experience of their own perspective to understand what others can possibly see and therefore know and intend to do (Studies 1 to 3). 2. Dogs can distinguish between false and true beliefs of others, can use this capacity flexibly in implicit and explicit tasks to predict others actions, and can attribute beliefs based on information acquired through different sensory modalities (visual and auditory; Studies 4 and 5). Approach In Study 1, we will examine the construct validity and test-retest reliability of perspective taking in dogs. In Study 2, we will test their understanding of seeing, specifically, if it not only involves what others see at the time of decision-making, but what others might see. Study 3 will test whether dogs can use their own experience of seeing through novel (opaque or transparent) barriers to infer if someone else can or cannot see through the same barriers. In Study 4, we will conduct a false belief task in the auditory domain, as here the eyes cannot reveal the direction of attention. In Study 5, finally, we will apply eye-tracking technology to examine whether dogs also anticipate others actions by tracking their (false) beliefs. Innovation The expected results will not only disambiguate previous findings, but will also provide evidence that the perspective-taking abilities of dogs are robust, flexible and independent of the sensory modality. In this respect, the outcomes will be novel and important not only for canine scientists, but scientists from adjacent research fields such as psychology and evolutionary biology, and also the public interested in the inner lives of their companion animals. Primary researchers involved The project will be led by Ludwig Huber, together with Christoph Völter, and will employ a postdoctoral researcher, a dog trainer and two student assistants.