Abstract
The
ability of animals to use a mirror, either as a problem-solving tool or
for the purposes of self-recognition, has been tested in several
species. However, there are no empirical reports of studies using
mirrors with companion dogs, which differ from most animals in that they
are from infancy often kept in complex environments containing many
reflective surfaces, including household mirrors. We used a simple
repeated measures design, with no pre-training, to test whether pet dogs
(n = 40) understand the concept of reflection. Each dog accompanied
their owner into a room containing a large covered mirror. They were
given 1 minute to explore the room, following which the mirror was
uncovered. After another minute of exploration, the dog was motivated to
attend to the mirror by the owner. A second owner then appeared in an
adjoining room displaying the dog’s favourite toy. The second owner
stood behind the dog but could be seen in the reflective surface of the
mirror. Dogs were more likely to attend to the mirror when the second
owner was visible than when the owner was not visible in the mirror.
Seven dogs turned away from the mirror to look toward the actual
location of the owner. Of these, 2 then attended to the owner in the
window more than the mirror. It is possible that these 2 dogs understood
the real location of the owner and, therefore, the nature of
reflection. However, none of these responses was completely unambiguous
and most dogs tested showed no evidence of a capacity to spontaneously
use the mirror to locate the second owner.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.