2023 Volume 42 Issue 1 Pages 103-107
To study the interactions between humans and dogs and between humans and horses, previous research has investigated whether human behaviors can serve as signals to these animals. Hare et al. (2002) found that dogs are more sensitive to human pointing than chimpanzees, which are the species most closely related to humans, and wolves, which are the species most closely related to dogs. Based on these findings, they argued that dogs possess innate cognitive capacities for processing human social cues, particularly pointing behaviors, as a result of domestication. Conversely, other studies have indicated that minor variations in the pointing task between species may introduce confounding factors in the results. Therefore, this paper identifies and discusses four potential pitfalls―misconceptions that may hinder the progress of research―in studies employing the pointing task. It provides an exploration of the intriguing and challenging aspects of cognitive research involving dogs and horses, with a focus on avoiding these pitfalls.
