A nonverbal test of knowledge attribution: a comparative study on dogs and children |
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Authors: | Zs Virányi J Topál Á Miklósi V Csányi |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Ethology, ELTE University Budapest, Pázmány P. sétány 1/C, H-1117, Hungary;(2) Comparative Ethology Research Group, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungary |
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Abstract: | The sensitivity of eleven pet dogs and eleven 2.5-year-old children to others’ past perceptual access was tested for object-specificity
in a playful, nonverbal task in which a human Helper’s knowledge state regarding the whereabouts of a hidden toy and a stick
(a tool necessary for getting the out-of-reach toy) was systematically manipulated. In the four experimental conditions the
Helper either participated or was absent during hiding of the toy and the stick and therefore she knew the place(s) of (1)
both the toy and the stick, (2) only the toy, (3) only the stick or (4) neither of them. The subjects observed the hiding
processes, but they could not reach the objects, so they had to involve the Helper to retrieve the toy. The dogs were more
inclined to signal the place of the toy in each condition and indicated the location of the stick only sporadically. However
the children signalled both the location of the toy and that of the stick in those situations when the Helper had similar
knowledge regarding the whereabouts of them (i.e. knew or ignored both of them), and in those conditions in which the Helper
was ignorant of the whereabouts of only one object the children indicated the place of this object more often than that of
the known one. At the same time however, both dogs and children signalled the place of the toy more frequently if the Helper
had been absent during toy-hiding compared to those conditions when she had participated in the hiding. Although this behaviour
appears to correspond with the Helper’s knowledge state, even the subtle distinction made by the children can be interpreted
without a casual understanding of knowledge-formation in others. |
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Keywords: | Dog Child Knowledge-attribution Theory of mind |
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