Domestic Dogs Prefer Prosocial to Antisocial Humans
Submission Type
Event
Faculty Advisor
Ellen Furlong
Expected Graduation Date
2018
Location
Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-21-2018 9:00 AM
End Date
4-21-2018 10:00 AM
Disciplines
Education
Abstract
Domestic dogs possess high aptitude for following social cues from humans, performing similarly to human infants and toddlers at understanding gestures, intentionality, and affective states, as well as other displays of social intelligence. The present study seeks to determine whether dogs, like human infants, show a preference towards actors engaging in prosocial behavior compared to those engaging in antisocial behavior. Fifty-four dogs watched as a human actor attempted to retrieve a clipboard that was out of his reach. Two additional experimenters performed one of three actions: handing the clipboard to the first experimenter (the helper), moving the clipboard farther away from the first experimenter (the hinderer), or not interacting with the clipboard in any capacity (the neutral actor). After this series of social interactions, both experimenters offered the dog a treat. We measured which experimenter the dogs first approached and accepted a treat from. Dogs preferred prosocial humans (the helper) compared to antisocial humans (the hinderer). This result suggests that preferences towards prosocial individuals may represent a component of social evolution which shaped both human and nonhuman social cognition.
Domestic Dogs Prefer Prosocial to Antisocial Humans
Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Domestic dogs possess high aptitude for following social cues from humans, performing similarly to human infants and toddlers at understanding gestures, intentionality, and affective states, as well as other displays of social intelligence. The present study seeks to determine whether dogs, like human infants, show a preference towards actors engaging in prosocial behavior compared to those engaging in antisocial behavior. Fifty-four dogs watched as a human actor attempted to retrieve a clipboard that was out of his reach. Two additional experimenters performed one of three actions: handing the clipboard to the first experimenter (the helper), moving the clipboard farther away from the first experimenter (the hinderer), or not interacting with the clipboard in any capacity (the neutral actor). After this series of social interactions, both experimenters offered the dog a treat. We measured which experimenter the dogs first approached and accepted a treat from. Dogs preferred prosocial humans (the helper) compared to antisocial humans (the hinderer). This result suggests that preferences towards prosocial individuals may represent a component of social evolution which shaped both human and nonhuman social cognition.