TY - JOUR
T1 - Association between increased behavioral persistence and stereotypy in the pet dog
AU - Protopopova, Alexandra
AU - Hall, Nathaniel J.
AU - Wynne, Clive
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was funded in part by the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation . The authors thank Cassandra Vazquez for assistance in video coding and the devoted owners of our subjects for their commitment and flexibility.
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether dogs that exhibit stereotypy also show higher behavioral persistence in an extinction-learning task. Thirteen pet dogs with stereotypy and 13 breed-matched control dogs were assessed on a resistance to extinction test. Each dog was trained for 40 trials using a food reinforcer to nose-touch the experimenter's hand on a continuous reinforcement schedule. After acquisition, the dogs entered an extinction phase, during which food was no longer delivered. The numbers of nose-touches as well as inter-response times during this phase were recorded. A linear regression found that stereotypy status (t= -2.46, P= .027) and breed type (t= 2.44, P= .023) were significant predictors of the number of responses in extinction. Dogs with stereotypy responded more in extinction than control dogs. The mean number of responses was 13.4 (SD = 14.7) in the control group and 26.0 (SD = 15.3) in the stereotypy group. These results suggest a link between previous laboratory and zoo animal findings on the neurophysiology of stereotypy and the pet dog population. They also have implications for the use of extinction procedures to reduce stereotypic behaviors in pet dogs, as these dogs show enhanced resistance to extinction.
AB - The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether dogs that exhibit stereotypy also show higher behavioral persistence in an extinction-learning task. Thirteen pet dogs with stereotypy and 13 breed-matched control dogs were assessed on a resistance to extinction test. Each dog was trained for 40 trials using a food reinforcer to nose-touch the experimenter's hand on a continuous reinforcement schedule. After acquisition, the dogs entered an extinction phase, during which food was no longer delivered. The numbers of nose-touches as well as inter-response times during this phase were recorded. A linear regression found that stereotypy status (t= -2.46, P= .027) and breed type (t= 2.44, P= .023) were significant predictors of the number of responses in extinction. Dogs with stereotypy responded more in extinction than control dogs. The mean number of responses was 13.4 (SD = 14.7) in the control group and 26.0 (SD = 15.3) in the stereotypy group. These results suggest a link between previous laboratory and zoo animal findings on the neurophysiology of stereotypy and the pet dog population. They also have implications for the use of extinction procedures to reduce stereotypic behaviors in pet dogs, as these dogs show enhanced resistance to extinction.
KW - Behavioral persistence
KW - Dog
KW - Extinction learning
KW - Stereotypy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84901001911&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84901001911&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.04.009
DO - 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.04.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 24814910
AN - SCOPUS:84901001911
SN - 0376-6357
VL - 106
SP - 77
EP - 81
JO - Behavioural processes
JF - Behavioural processes
ER -