Testing coyotes in an object choice task following a human gesture. Issue 4 (4th July 2021)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Testing coyotes in an object choice task following a human gesture. Issue 4 (4th July 2021)
- Main Title:
- Testing coyotes in an object choice task following a human gesture
- Authors:
- Floyd, Nathan
Young, Julie K. - Abstract:
- Abstract : Interspecific communication is often studied by determining a species ability to respond to human gestures. Results emerging from pet versus free-roaming domestic dogs (C anis familiaris ) elucidate differences in the behavioral changes that occur based on life experience and human socialization in the development of social cognition. Additional research on wild species of canids raised with minimal levels of human socialization may provide insight into the importance of human socialization in the ability of non-human animals to correctly respond to a human gesture. We used captive coyotes ( Canis latrans ) to test whether coyotes could use human pointing gestures to succeed in an object-choice task. We specifically tested two groups of coyotes; both were minimal human socialization but one group was coyote-reared while the other group had high levels of human socialization during early ontogenetic development because they were hand-reared until 12 weeks of age. We tested 12 coyotes (n = 5 hand-reared, n = 7 coyote-reared) on responses to a human distal-pointing gesture across 10 trials each. Only one coyote, a hand-reared male, performed better than expected by chance and made correct choices in eight trials (incorrect choices in trials three and four). We found no difference between coyote- or hand-reared coyotes in their abilities to respond correctly to a human distal-pointing gesture (t = – 0.043, P = 0.97). Performance did not improve over time among allAbstract : Interspecific communication is often studied by determining a species ability to respond to human gestures. Results emerging from pet versus free-roaming domestic dogs (C anis familiaris ) elucidate differences in the behavioral changes that occur based on life experience and human socialization in the development of social cognition. Additional research on wild species of canids raised with minimal levels of human socialization may provide insight into the importance of human socialization in the ability of non-human animals to correctly respond to a human gesture. We used captive coyotes ( Canis latrans ) to test whether coyotes could use human pointing gestures to succeed in an object-choice task. We specifically tested two groups of coyotes; both were minimal human socialization but one group was coyote-reared while the other group had high levels of human socialization during early ontogenetic development because they were hand-reared until 12 weeks of age. We tested 12 coyotes (n = 5 hand-reared, n = 7 coyote-reared) on responses to a human distal-pointing gesture across 10 trials each. Only one coyote, a hand-reared male, performed better than expected by chance and made correct choices in eight trials (incorrect choices in trials three and four). We found no difference between coyote- or hand-reared coyotes in their abilities to respond correctly to a human distal-pointing gesture (t = – 0.043, P = 0.97). Performance did not improve over time among all coyotes or within either group. The preliminary results from this study suggest that most coyotes will not respond to human gestures and early life experience does not appear to improve adult performance. These findings are in contrast to most studies of gesture studies of canids. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Ethology, ecology & evolution. Volume 33:Issue 4(2021)
- Journal:
- Ethology, ecology & evolution
- Issue:
- Volume 33:Issue 4(2021)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 33, Issue 4 (2021)
- Year:
- 2021
- Volume:
- 33
- Issue:
- 4
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2021-0033-0004-0000
- Page Start:
- 394
- Page End:
- 405
- Publication Date:
- 2021-07-04
- Subjects:
- Canis latrans -- domestication -- social cognition -- task performance
Animal behavior -- Periodicals
Animal ecology -- Periodicals
Behavior evolution -- Periodicals
Behavior, Animal -- Periodicals
Ecology -- Periodicals
Biological Evolution -- Periodicals
Écologie animale -- Périodiques
Évolution du comportement -- Périodiques
Éthologie -- Périodiques
Animal behavior
Animal ecology
Behavior evolution
Periodicals
Electronic journals
591.5 - Journal URLs:
- http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/20334991.html ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/teee20/current ↗
http://www.unifi.it/unifi/dbag/eee/ ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/03949370.2020.1837966 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0394-9370
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 20044.xml