Are Dogs the New "Rats?"



In the 1970's cognitive ethologist Marc Bekoff announced a study of dog play behavior and recalls many of his colleagues scoffed at this idea saying, "Why don't you study real animals?" Because dogs are so domesticated many scientists believed that they were not worthy of study. Domestication makes dogs "less useful for investigations on the evolution of cognition," says bird behaviorist Nicola Clayton.

pictured above: Adam Miklosi of the Eotvos Lorand University dog cognition lab and one of his research subjects.

Last year the first ever dog cognition conference was held at Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest by ethologist Adam Miklosi and his team. Now dozens of top research labs, such as Harvard University's Marc Hauser, are switching their research to dogs. Canines are excellent subjects for studying the basics of social cognition. Because all dogs are descended from the gray wolf (C. lupus) they also show how domestication has changed their mental processes enabling them to live in a new environment, our homes.

However, there are still side effects of studying dogs according to primatologist Frans de Waal of Emory University, "the investigator has no control over the nurture side: how owners feed, train, or treat their dogs" which "introduces unknown variables we would normally not accept in animal behavior research." But still many behaviorists agree that the pros of dog research outweight the cons. For example, dogs are extremely willing and cooperative in a lab setting and enjoy working with people. They are also far less expensive to study than most lab animals because most dog labs do not house their subjects. "...You ask people if they'd like to have their dogs take place in a cognitive experiment.. and the next thing you know, you have 1000 dogs to test." says biological anthropologist Brian Hare. Harvard University's Marc Hauser adds, "Why stop at 100; why not have 10,000?" This is another benefit of dog research, it can easily and cost effectively be replicated.

Dog ethology and dog cognition are hot fields right now, agrees psychologist Clive Wynne of the University of Florida, "There's no other species that triggers so many questions and debate, and no animal that we have a more intimate relationship with, than the dog."

-Jillian O'Keefe (week 2)

Update:

"Wild" dogs or wolves (the dogs ancestor) may be considered "better" research subjects for multiple reasons. First of all domesticated dogs have a 25% smaller brain than wolves on average. Therefore some people, not all people, think that domesticated dogs are much less intelligent than wolves... but brain size is not everything. Another reason that some may consider wolves to be better subjects is because they have not been domesticated. There are some researchers, like Nicola Clayton, who believe that domestication makes dogs "less useful for investigations on the evolution of cognition."

Many canine labs are seeing how well dogs can read human intentions. Even the shapes of dogs' faces are being studied. Miklosi's lab recently reported a finding that dogs with rounder faces (like pugs) are better at following human cues than breeds with longer noses.

Science Magazine Vol. 325 28 August 2009