What's the point? Domestic dogs' sensitivity to the accuracy of human informants

Abstract

Dogs excel at understanding human social-communicative gestures like points and can distinguish between human informants who vary in characteristics such as knowledge or familiarity. This study explores if dogs, like human children, can use human social informants' past accuracy when deciding whom to trust. Experiment 1 tested whether dogs would behave differently in the presence of an accurate (vs. inaccurate) informant. Dogs followed an accurate informant's point significantly above chance. Further, when presented with an inaccurate point, dogs were more likely to ignore it and choose the correct location. Experiment 2 tested whether dogs could use informant past accuracy to selectively follow the point of the previously accurate informant. In test trials when informants simultaneously pointed at different locations (only one of which contained a treat), dogs chose the accurate informant at chance levels. Experiment 3 controlled for non-social task demands (e.g. understanding of hidden baiting and occlusion events) that may have influenced Experiment 2 performance. In test trials, dogs chose to follow the accurate (vs. inaccurate) informant. This suggests that like children, dogs may be able to use informants' past accuracy when choosing between information sources.

Keywords: Canine cognition; Comparative cognition; Social Learning; Social cognition.

Fig. 1

Experimental set-up for the object permanence and informant trials. A trained research assistant held onto the dog’s leash and ensured the dog was in the starting box for the beginning of each trial. The informant sat in the center of the two cups directly in front of the dog

Fig. 2

Experiment 1 average point following responses by informant type

Fig. 3

Experiment 2 set up when both informants are present

Fig. 4

Experiment 2 average point following responses by informant

Fig. 5

Procedures for the phases of Experiment 3. In Visit 1 dogs completed, in order, a warm-up, b object permanence, c occlusion-visible baiting, and d occlusion-hidden baiting. In visit 2, dogs completed, in order, a warm-up, d occlusion-hidden baiting, e informant history, and f conflicting informants' test trials

Fig. 6

Experiment 3 average correct trials for each of the asocial tasks

Fig. 7

Experiment 3 average correct trials for each of the social tasks. Correct choices also represent following the accurate pointer (vs. the inaccurate)