Perception of animacy in dogs and humans

Abdai, Judit; Ferdinandy, Bence; Terencio, Cristina Baño; Pogány, Ákos; Miklósi, Ádám

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2017.0156

Cited by 23 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…spontaneous predictions of what is likely to happen) about animacy [ 3 – 5 ]. Similarly, other species, including species of birds, dogs and fish, selectively attend to self-propelled motion [ 6 – 8 ] and may show preferences for vertebrate-style movement from birth [ 9 ]. Responses to animacy and motion in both human infants and young non-humans are commonly taken as evidence for genetically evolved, implicit rules that help categorize the world [ 10 ] (sometimes referred to as ‘core knowledge’ [ 11 ]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, research on animacy categorizations in animals has been restricted to laboratory conditions, commonly using highly artificial stimuli such as point-light displays on computer screens or projections of geometric shapes (e.g. [ 8 , 9 ]). Although the similarity of stimuli features to naturally animate stimuli has been suggested to influence animacy attribution in captive monkeys [ 4 ], the extent to which animals categorize naturally occurring objects on the basis of animacy remains unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Wild jackdaws are wary of objects that violate expectations of animacy

et al. 2018

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Nature is composed of self-propelled, animate agents and inanimate objects. Laboratory studies have shown that human infants and a few species discriminate between animate and inanimate objects. This ability is assumed to have evolved to support social cognition and filial imprinting, but its ecological role for wild animals has never been examined. An alternative, functional explanation is that discriminating stimuli based on their potential for animacy helps animals distinguish between harmless and threatening stimuli. Using remote-controlled experimental stimulus presentations, we tested if wild jackdaws (Corvus monedula) respond fearfully to stimuli that violate expectations for movement. Breeding pairs (N = 27) were presented at their nests with moving and non-moving models of ecologically relevant stimuli (birds, snakes and sticks) that differed in threat level and propensity for independent motion. Jackdaws were startled by movement regardless of stimulus type and produced more alarm calls when faced with animate objects. However, they delayed longest in entering their nest-box after encountering a stimulus that should not move independently, suggesting they recognized the movement as unexpected. How jackdaws develop expectations about object movement is not clear, but our results suggest that discriminating between animate and inanimate stimuli may trigger information gathering about potential threats.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild jackdaws are wary of objects that violate expectations of animacy

et al. 2018

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“…SCAyLE has several calculation clusters with different computer technology architectures. Participants accessed a cluster dedicated to teaching [1].…”

Section: Hpc Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploratory study of introducing HPC to non-ICT researchers: institutional strategy is possibly needed for widespread adaption

et al. 2020

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Machine learning algorithms are becoming more and more useful in many fields of science, including many areas where computational methods are rarely used. High-performance Computing (HPC) is the most powerful solution to get the best results using these algorithms. HPC requires various skills to use. Acquiring this knowledge might be intimidating and take a long time for a researcher with small or no background in information and communications technologies (ICTs), even if the benefits of such knowledge is evident for the researcher. In this work, we aim to assess how a specific method of introducing HPC to such researchers enables them to start using HPC. We gave talks to two groups of non-ICT researchers that introduced basic concepts focusing on the necessary practical steps needed to use HPC on a specific cluster. We also offered hands-on trainings for one of the groups which aimed to guide participants through the first steps of using HPC. Participants filled out questionnaires partly based on Kirkpatrick’s training evaluation model before and after the talk, and after the hands-on training. We found that the talk increased participants’ self-reported likelihood of using HPC in their future research, but this was not significant for the group where participation was voluntary. On the contrary, very few researchers participated in the hands-on training, and for these participants neither the talk, nor the hands-on training changed their self-reported likelihood of using HPC in their future research. We argue that our findings show that academia and researchers would benefit from an environment that not only expects researchers to train themselves, but provides structural support for acquiring new skills.

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“…Eatherington and colleagues 15 In another study, dogs interacted more often with objects that displayed a dependent movement pattern (resembling a chasing event) than with independently moving objects 17 . In a related looking time study, dogs lost interest sooner in geometric shapes with a dependent (chasing-like) movement pattern than in shapes with an independent movement pattern 18 . Even though it is unclear whether these two findings are compatible, they have been interpreted as evidence that dogs perceive moving objects as animate based on their movement patterns.…”

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confidence: 93%

Dogs accurately track a moving object on a screen and anticipate its destination

Völter

Karl

Huber

2020

Sci Rep

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The prediction of upcoming events is of importance not only to humans and non-human primates but also to other animals that live in complex environments with lurking threats or moving prey. In this study, we examined motion tracking and anticipatory looking in dogs in two eye-tracking experiments. In Experiment 1, we presented pet dogs (N = 14) with a video depicting how two players threw a Frisbee back and forth multiple times. The horizontal movement of the Frisbee explained a substantial amount of variance of the dogs’ horizontal eye movements. With increasing duration of the video, the dogs looked at the catcher before the Frisbee arrived. In Experiment 2, we showed the dogs (N = 12) the same video recording. This time, however, we froze and rewound parts of the video to examine how the dogs would react to surprising events (i.e., the Frisbee hovering in midair and reversing its direction). The Frisbee again captured the dogs’ attention, particularly when the video was frozen and rewound for the first time. Additionally, the dogs looked faster at the catcher when the video moved forward compared to when it was rewound. We conclude that motion tracking and anticipatory looking paradigms provide promising tools for future cognitive research with canids.

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Perception of animacy in dogs and humans

Cited by 23 publications

References 14 publications

Wild jackdaws are wary of objects that violate expectations of animacy

Wild jackdaws are wary of objects that violate expectations of animacy

Exploratory study of introducing HPC to non-ICT researchers: institutional strategy is possibly needed for widespread adaption

Dogs accurately track a moving object on a screen and anticipate its destination

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