Multisensory mental representation of objects in typical and Gifted Word Learner dogs

A citizen science model turns anecdotes into evidence by revealing similar characteristics among Gifted Word Learner dogs

Dogs that have a vocabulary of object labels (Gifted Word Learner dogs-GWL dogs) have great potential as a comparative model for studying a variety of cognitive mechanisms. However, only a handful of studies, with a small sample size of 1 or 2 dogs, have examined this phenomenon. GWL dogs appear to share many of the same distinctive characteristics, but due to their rarity, it is not clear if these similarities are only anecdotal or indeed reflect characteristics that are similar in these rare individuals. Here we present the first study conducted on a relatively large sample of 41 GWL dogs that were recruited and tested using a citizen science model. After testing the dogs' receptive vocabulary of toy names, we asked the owners to complete a questionnaire about their and their dog's life experiences. Our findings highlight several characteristics that are shared among most GWL dogs, such as their learning speed, their large vocabulary, and that they learned the names of the toys spontaneously, without the explicit intent of their owners. Our findings validate previous anecdotal evidence on common characteristics of GWL dogs and supply additional support to the hypothesis that these dogs represent a unique group of dogs.

Subjective vision assessment in companion dogs using dogVLQ demonstrates age-associated visual dysfunction

Introduction

Dim light vision as assessed by proxy and clinical tools is commonly impaired in older humans and impacts quality of life. Although proxy visual assessment tools have been developed for dogs, it is unclear if they are sensitive enough to detect subtle visual dysfunction in older dogs. We sought to determine if a newly designed proxy visual function questionnaire could detect age-associated differences in visual behaviors in varying lighting conditions in dogs.

Methods

A 27-item questionnaire (the dog variable lighting questionnaire, dogVLQ) was designed to assess visual behavior in dogs in different lighting settings. We conducted the dogVLQ, a previously validated visual function questionnaire the dog vision impairment score and performed light- and dark-adapted electroretinography (ERG) on a subset of dogs. Questionnaire scores were analyzed for dog age associations using correlation analysis.

Results

Questionnaire responses from 235 dog owners were obtained (122 female, 112 male dogs), 79 of which underwent ERG (43 female, 36 male dogs). Bright light visual behavior was significantly associated with light-adapted bright flash ERG amplitudes, visual behavior in near darkness was associated with dark-adapted ERG amplitudes. The dogVLQ identified worse vision in older dogs in bright light, dim light, and darkness; predicted onset was younger for vision in near darkness. Older dogs had more difficulty navigating transitions between lighting conditions.

Discussion

Subjective dog owner assessment of visual function associates with objective measurement of retinal function in dogs and supports reduced vision-mediated behaviors in older dogs.

Investigating the concept of representation in the neural and psychological sciences

The concept of representation is commonly treated as indispensable to research on brains, behavior, and cognition. Nevertheless, systematic evidence about the ways the concept is applied remains scarce. We present the results of an experiment aimed at elucidating what researchers mean by "representation." Participants were an international group of psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers (N = 736). Applying elicitation methodology, participants responded to a survey with experimental scenarios aimed at invoking applications of "representation" and five other ways of describing how the brain responds to stimuli. While we find little disciplinary variation in the application of "representation" and other expressions (e.g., "about" and "carry information"), the results suggest that researchers exhibit uncertainty about what sorts of brain activity involve representations or not; they also prefer non-representational, causal characterizations of the brain's response to stimuli. Potential consequences of these findings are explored, such as reforming or eliminating the concept of representation from use.

How Do Dogs Behave When Presented with Situations of Different Emotional Valences?

Dogs are good models for studying behaviour and cognition as they have complex social capabilities. In the current study, we observed how human emotional valences (positive, neutral and negative) affected aspects of dogs’ behaviour. We expected that dogs would exhibit more approaching behaviours in the positive condition and more signs of avoidance in the negative one. We analysed videos of 70 adult pet dogs of various breeds taken from an experiment in which one of two actors expressed an emotion and dogs could freely explore the environment for 30 s. Our results show that dogs exhibit differential behaviour when presented with different emotional valences. Two behaviours arose that might be linked to a reciprocal positive emotional state in dogs: tail raised between 90° and 180° and physical contact during sniffing. These behaviours are associated with an active search for information. In the positive conditions, dogs were more willing to explore the social environment and gather information from the actors.

A novel task of canine olfaction for use in adult and senior pet dogs

While much work has been done in the field of canine olfaction, there has been little exploration of hyposmia or anosmia. This is partly due to difficulties in reducing confounds like training history and environmental distraction. The current study describes a novel olfaction test using spontaneous search behavior in dogs to find a hidden food treat in a three-choice task with both light-phase and dark-phase conditions. The study was performed in 18 adult control dogs, 18 senior/geriatric dogs enrolled in a longitudinal aging study, and a single dog with severe nasal pathology. In the senior/geriatric and control groups, dogs performed with higher accuracy (p < 0.0001) and were less likely to show biased selection strategy (p < 0.01) in the dark-phase than light-phase. While senior/geriatric dogs performed above chance, they had lower accuracy in the dark-phase compared to controls (p = 0.036). Dogs who scored higher on an owner questionnaire of cognitive decline showed a positive correlation with performance in the dark-phase; performance on additional cognitive tests did not correlate with performance in the dark-phase. This task can be used to quantify canine olfaction using clearly defined endpoints and spontaneous behaviors thus making it feasible to compare between and within groups of pet dogs.