A cultural selection analysis of human-dog interactions – A primer. Issue 2 (3rd July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pfaller-Sadovsky, Nicole; Hurtado-Parrado, Camilo
• Is Part Of: European journal of behavior analysis. Volume 22:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 248
• Page End: 274
• Publication Date: 2021-07-03
• Subjects: Three-level selection -- metacontingency -- interlocking behavioral contingency -- human-dog interactions; Behavioral assessment -- Periodicals; 150.287
• DOI: 10.1080/15021149.2020.1791682
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1502-1149

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Mounting interest in the evolutionary and contemporary aspects of human-dog association has resulted in growing research efforts from different disciplines. Despite its potential to contribute, behavior-analytic research efforts are scarce. We illustrate how the behavior-analytic three-level selection by consequences framework could inform research on human-dog interactions. The notions of interlocking behavioral contingencies and metacontingencies are applied to interpret specific interactions and suggest potential lines of research. We first analyze the development of cooperative human-dog hunting, and its implications for interspecific social-communicative skills. Second, we discuss contemporary family interactions between parents, children and dogs via an analysis of a prototypic social episode. Lastly, we provide an overview of the main approaches that have contributed to the understanding of human-dog interactions (e.g., anthrozoological), and show how their findings can be placed within the behavior-analytic framework. The selectionist framework is a cohesive approach that can importantly contribute to synthesize a large amount of scattered research on human-dog relationships conducted across various fields, and may inform further research applications.