The use of a displacement device negatively affects the performance of dogs (Canis familiaris) in visible object displacement tasks.

ABSTRACT: Visible and invisible displacement tasks have been used widely for comparative studies of animals' understanding of object permanence, with evidence accumulating that some species can solve invisible displacement tasks and, thus, reach Piagetian stage 6 of object permanence. In contrast, dogs appear to rely on associative cues, such as the location of the displacement device, during invisible displacement tasks. It remains unclear, however, whether dogs, and other species that failed in invisible displacement tasks, do so because of their inability to form a mental representation of the target object, or simply because of the involvement of a more salient but potentially misleading associative cue, the displacement device. Here we show that the use of a displacement device impairs the perf

SUBMITTER: Muller CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4178220 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature