Abstract
Gagnon and Doré (1992) showed that domestic dogs are able to solve a Piagetian object permanence task called the invisible displacement problem. A toy is hidden in a container which is moved behind a screen where the toy is removed and left. Dogs make more errors in these problems than they do in visible displacement tests, in which the object is hidden directly behind the target screen. In Experiment 1, we examined components of the standard procedure of invisible displacements that may make encoding or retention of the hiding location more difficult than it is in visible displacements. In Experiment 2, we compared dogs’ performances in visible and invisible displacement problems when delays of 0, 10, and 20 sec were introduced between the object’s final disappearance and the subject’s release. The results revealed that dogs’ poorer performance in invisible displacement tests is related to the complex sequence of events that have to be encoded or remembered as well as to a difficulty in representing the position change that is signaled, but not directly perceived.
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This paper reports portions of the research for a doctoral dissertation submitted by SG. to the École de psychologie, Université Laval. It was supported by Grant A7030 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and by Grant EQ 2760 from Fonda pour Ia Formation des Chercheurs et l’Aide à la Recherche (FCAR) du Gouvemement du Québec to F.Y.D., as well as by NSERC and FCAR scholarships to S.G. This research received approvalfrom the Comité de protection des animaux de laboratoire de l’Université Laval, which is responsible for the application and enforcement of the rules of the Canadian Council on Animal Care. We thank Sandra DeBlois, Sylvain Fiset, Lucie Godbout, Danielle Lefebvre, and Martine Thibault for their assistance in collecting data. Special thanks are addressed to the breeders who have participated in this research, Ginette and Jacques Babin, Louyse and Richard Galibois, Jean-Louis Blais, Madeleine Charest, Martine Chabot, and finally, Sandra and Bob Larochelle.
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Gagnon, S., Doré, F.Y. Search behavior of dogs (Canis familiaris) in invisible displacement problems. Animal Learning & Behavior 21, 246–254 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197989
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197989