Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
Canine Performance Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
Anim Cogn. 2024 Apr 1;27(1):30. doi: 10.1007/s10071-024-01868-4.
Many factors influence cognitive performance in dogs, including breed, temperament, rearing history, and training. Studies in working dog populations have demonstrated age-related improvements in cognitive task performance across the first years of development. However, the effect of certain factors, such as age, sex, and temperament, on cognitive performance in puppies has yet to be evaluated in a more diverse population of companion dogs. In this study, companion dogs under 12 months of age were tested once on two tasks purported to measure aspects of executive function: the delayed-search task (DST) and the detour reversal task (DRT). Owners also filled out the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) to evaluate how temperament influenced task performance. Contrary to prior research, performance did not improve with age on either task. However, the lack of age effects was likely the result of small sample sizes and individual differences across other factors influencing performance. Specifically, temperament differences as measured by the C-BARQ subscales for nonsocial fear and excitability predicted task performance on the DST, but the effect of temperament on task performance differed between males and females. Excitability also predicted performance on the DRT, but the effect depended on the age of the dog. In addition, no correlations were observed between task measures, indicating a lack of construct validity. Overall, these findings provide a preliminary analysis of factors that appear to influence cognitive task performance in young companion dogs and highlight suggestions for future research evaluating the impact of individual differences on cognitive performance.
许多因素会影响狗的认知表现，包括品种、气质、养育历史和训练。在工作犬群体中的研究表明，在发展的最初几年中，认知任务表现会随着年龄的增长而提高。然而，在更广泛的伴侣犬群体中，尚未评估某些因素（如年龄、性别和气质）对幼犬认知表现的影响。在这项研究中，12 个月以下的伴侣犬在两项被认为可以衡量执行功能方面的任务上进行了一次测试：延迟搜索任务（DST）和迂回反转任务（DRT）。主人还填写了犬类行为评估和研究问卷（C-BARQ），以评估气质如何影响任务表现。与之前的研究相反，这两个任务的表现都没有随着年龄的增长而提高。然而，缺乏年龄影响的原因可能是样本量小，以及影响表现的其他因素存在个体差异。具体来说，C-BARQ 非社交恐惧和兴奋度分量表衡量的气质差异预测了 DST 的任务表现，但气质对任务表现的影响因性别而异。兴奋度也预测了 DRT 的表现，但这种影响取决于狗的年龄。此外，任务测量之间没有观察到相关性，表明缺乏结构有效性。总的来说，这些发现初步分析了似乎会影响年轻伴侣犬认知任务表现的因素，并强调了评估个体差异对认知表现影响的未来研究建议。
