Horowitz Alexandra
University of California, San Diego, USA.
Anim Cogn. 2009 Jan;12(1):107-18. doi: 10.1007/s10071-008-0175-y. Epub 2008 Aug 5.
The social cognitive capacities of dogs, including their communication skills and use of visual attention cues, have recently been investigated in numerous experimental studies. This paper reports on research of domestic dog behavior in a natural setting, which shows sensitivity to the visual attention of their partners when engaged in dyadic rough-and-tumble play. The sequential behaviors and head-direction of both dogs were noted throughout the bouts. The behaviors were differentially used according to the partner's posture. Play signals were sent nearly exclusively to forward-facing conspecifics; attention-getting behaviors were used most often when a playmate was facing away, and before signaling an interest to play. In addition, the mode of attention-getter matched the degree of inattentiveness of the playmate: stronger attention-getters were used when a playmate was looking away or distracted, less forceful ones when the partner was facing forward or laterally. In other words, these dogs showed attention to, and acted to manipulate, a feature of other dogs that mediates their ability to respond: which feature in human interaction is called "attention".
狗的社会认知能力，包括它们的沟通技巧和对视觉注意力线索的运用，最近在众多实验研究中得到了探究。本文报道了在自然环境中对家犬行为的研究，该研究表明，在进行二元混战游戏时，狗对伙伴的视觉注意力很敏感。在整个回合中，记录了两只狗的连续行为和头部方向。这些行为会根据伙伴的姿势而有所不同地使用。游戏信号几乎只发送给面向前方的同类；当玩伴背对着时，以及在发出游戏兴趣信号之前，最常使用吸引注意力的行为。此外，吸引注意力的方式与玩伴的不专注程度相匹配：当玩伴看向别处或分心时，会使用更强的吸引注意力方式；当伙伴面向前方或侧面时，则使用力度较小的方式。换句话说，这些狗会关注并采取行动来操控其他狗的一个特征，这个特征会影响它们的反应能力：在人类互动中这个特征被称为“注意力”。
