Percepción de los beneficios individuales del uso de la bicicleta compartida como modo de transporte / Perception of the individual benefits of bike sharing use as a mode of transport

El uso de la bicicleta como modo de transporte se asocia con numerosos beneficios ambientales y sociales, no obstante, se desconoce cuáles son los más valorados por los ciclistas. El objetivo de este estudio fue conocer en qué medida el Sistema de Transporte Público de Bicicletas (STPB) de la ciudad de Buenos Aires produjo impactos positivos sobre los aspectos que las personas valoran en el momento de viajar, analizando si estas evaluaciones varían en función de la intensidad de uso del STPB. Para ello, se diseñó un cuestionario basado en un estudio sobre la calidad de vida residencial que fue aplicado a 161 usuarios del STPB. Los resultados indicaron que los aspectos del viajar: rapidez, control del horario de llegada, ahorro de dinero y en menor medida la salud, fueron muy importantes para los usuarios y fueron los que más mejoraron a partir del uso del STPB. Asimismo, las personas que usan el sistema con mayor intensidad son las que perciben más beneficios sobre los aspectos no instrumentales del viajar como el entretenimiento y la comodidad. Estos resultados sugieren que para lograr que las personas realicen un cambio sustentable en sus comportamientos de movilidad es necesario mantener las ventajas instrumentales que ofrece el servicio de bicicletas compartidas sobre los otros medios de transporte.

Cycling as a mode of transport is associated with numerous social and environmental benefits. However, the benefits that are most valued by cyclists are unknown. This study sought to find out to what extent the Public Bike Sharing System (PBSS) of the city of Buenos Aires produced positive impacts on aspects that users value most when traveling, and analysing whether these evaluations vary according to the intensity of use of the PBSS. To achieve this aim, a questionnaire was designed based on a study on residential quality of life, which was administered to 161 PBSS users. Results indicated that travel aspects such as rapidity, control of arrival time, saving money and -to a lesser extent- health were very important to users, and these aspects had the greatest improvement since they started to use the PBSS. Similarly, those who used the system with greater intensity perceived greater non-instrumental benefits, such as entertainment and comfort. These results suggest that, in order to achieve a sustainable change in mobility behaviours, it is necessary to maintain the instrumental advantages of bike sharing over other modes of transport.

Assessment of Environmental Quality, Degree of Optimism, and the Assignment of Responsibility Regarding the State of the Environment in Latin America / Evaluación de la Calidad Ambiental, Grado de Optimismo y Asignación de Responsabilidad con Respecto al Estado del Ambiente en Latinoamérica

This study explores the assessments made by the inhabitants of eight Latin American countries regarding the current state of the environment, at a local, national and global scale, and how it is perceived looking ahead to the future. It also examines the assignment of responsibility in the future management of the environment. A total of 944 people took part in the study from the eight participating countries, men and women over the age of 18 with different levels of education. The study uses the Environmental Futures Scale to which two relevant items have been added to assess the environment in the region, as well as the Assignment of Environmental Responsibility Scale. The results show differences between the countries, although in general they are pessimistic regarding the current and future state of the environment at the local, national and global level, with the exception of Brazil. In general, and with the exception of Brazil, in the countries surveyed, people assign a high level of responsibility to external social agents at the different levels, increasing their judgement of external responsibility at the national and global levels of analysis. The implications of these findings for environmental policy and education in the countries of this region are also discussed.

El presente estudio explora las evaluaciones realizadas por los habitantes de ocho países de América Latina en relación con su percepción sobre el estado actual del medio ambiente a escala local, nacional y mundial, así como las expectativas hacia el futuro del ambiente y la asignación de responsabilidades en cuanto a la gestión del futuro ambiental. Participaron un total de 944 personas de ocho países, hombres y mujeres de más 18 años con diferentes niveles de educación. Se aplicó la Escala de Futuros Ambientales a la que se le añadieron dos ítems pertinentes para evaluar el medio ambiente en la región y los ítems correspondientes a la Escala de Responsabilidad Ambiental. Los resultados muestran diferencias entre los países, aunque en general son pesimistas sobre el estado actual y futuro del medio ambiente a nivel local, nacional y mundial, con la excepción de Brasil. Igualmente en general, y con la excepción de Brasil, en los diferentes países encuestados las personas asignan un alto nivel de responsabilidad a los agentes sociales externos en los diferentes niveles, siendo más grande la responsabilidad asignada en los ámbitos nacional y mundial. También se discuten las implicaciones de estos hallazgos para la política del medio ambiente y las implicaciones para la educación en los países de esta región.

Valores y cuidado de la energía: implicancias para la educación ambiental en Argentina y Colombia / Value and care for power: implications for environmental education in Argentina and Colombia

Resumen La educación ambiental reconoce entre sus metas la promoción de factores individuales como las motivaciones y conocimientos para incentivar el cuidado del ambiente. El objetivo de este trabajo fue identificar los valores personales que guían una conducta pro-ambiental en dos países latinoamericanos. Mediante el uso de encuestas se evaluaron los valores biosféricos, altruistas, egoístas y hedonistas y las conductas de ahorro energético en Argentina (Estudio 1) y Colombia (Estudio 2). Los resultados apoyaron empíricamente la distinción teórica entre las cuatro orientaciones de valor. Fundamentalmente, indicaron que los valores biosféricos tienen un papel relevante en la explicación del comportamiento pro-ambiental en ambos países. Se discuten las implicancias de estos resultados para la educación ambiental formal e informal.

Abstract One of the objectives which underlies environmental education is the promotion of individual factors as motivations and knowledge to encourage environmental protection. The objective of this study was to determine the personal values which drive a pro-environmental behavior in two Latin American countries. By means of surveys, biospheric, altruistic, egoistic and hedonic values - as well as power saving behaviors - were evaluated in: Argentina (Study 1) and Colombia (Study 2). Results empirically supported the theoretical distinction between the four value orientations. Fundamentally, indicated that biospheric values play an important role in explaining pro-environmental behavior in both countries. We discuss implications of these results for formal and informal environmental education.

Frustration behaviors in domestic dogs.

During extinction a previously learned behavior stops being reinforced. In addition to the decrease in the rate of the instrumental response, it produces an aversive emotional state known as frustration. This state can be assimilated with the fear reactions that occur after aversive stimuli are introduced at both the physiological and behavioral levels. This study evaluated frustration reactions of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) during a communicative situation involving interactions with a human. The task included the reinforcement and extinction of the gaze response toward the experimenter's face when the dogs tried to obtain inaccessible food. The dog's frustration reactions during extinction involved an increase in withdrawal and side orientation to the location of the human as well as lying down, ambulation, sniffing, and vocalizations compared with the last acquisition trial. These results are especially relevant for domestic dog training situations in which the extinction technique is commonly used to discourage undesirable behaviors.

Mira lo que te muestro:¿Comunicación referencial entre perros domésticos (canis familiaris) y humanos? / Look what I show you: Referential communication between domestic dogs (canis familiaris) and humans?

Históricamente, la comunicación referencial fue considerada como exclusivamente humana. No obstante, recientemente se observó que los animales también pueden referirse hacia objetos externos. Para los perros domésticos, las personas proveen el acceso a los recursos valiosos, por lo que una adecuada comunicación con las mismas resulta fundamental. En este contexto, la comprensión y producción de señales comunicativas visuales cobran especial relevancia. Las evidencias revisadas indican que los perros detectan el estado atencional humano, siguen la orientación de la cabeza para hallar comida oculta y dirigen la atención del humano hacia un objeto fuera de su alcance, mediante la alternancia de la mirada. En función de ello, se sugiere que los perros se comunican de manera referencial con las personas. Sin embargo, esto no necesariamente implica que comprendan al otro como un agente intencional. Se discuten los posibles mecanismos involucrados así como las hipótesis acerca del origen de dichas capacidades.(AU)

Referential communication has been historically viewed as uniquely human because it is linked with the use of language. However, there is evidence indicating that animals can also communicate about external objects, by means of vocalizations or gestures. The use of gestures as pointing or gaze alternation involves the ability to direct the attention of an observer to a distal object or entity in the environment. This ability is shared with other species, especially those who live in captivity. For domestic dogs as for the species that live in captivity, humans provide the main resources for survival. For this reason a proper communication with them is essential. Visual social cues can be used to communicate emotional and mental states and so they allow us to predict others behavior. In this context, both comprehension of the human gaze as well as the production of visual communicative signals by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have special relevance. The evidence reviewed in the present study indicate that dogs can detect cues associated with human attentional states as head orientation, behaving differently when the person remains attentive or inattentive. Also, they are able to follow human head direction to find hidden food in an object choice task, but not gaze direction. Moreover, dogs can direct human attention toward an out-of-reach object, alternating their own gaze between the human face and the target. On that basis, as dogs can detect, follow and direct human attention, it would be possible to suggest that they can referentially communicate with people about distal objects in the environment; however these capacities were principally observed in foraging contexts. Nevertheless this does not imply that dogs necessarily comprehend others as intentional beings. There are several hypotheses to explain the origin of these abilities in dogs, some postulate that the intense process of domestication to which them were submitted, provide them a special sensitivity to communicate with humans. Differently, others stress the importance of ontogeny. Although the domestication process would be essential for understanding dogs ability to communicate with humans, the experience with people that they have throughout their lives is also involved in the acquisition of these skills. The two-stage hypothesis states that in addition to the domestication process, the sensitivity of a canid to human social cues depends on two types of ontogeny experience. First, interaction with humans during a sensitive developmental period leading to the acceptance of humans as social companions. Second, learning that is not restricted to a particular phase of development to utilize the location and movement of parts of the human body to locate sought-after objects. This would lead to a human-food association by conditioning processes. As domestic dogs spend most of their lives in human families, they have many opportunities to learn to use these signals. This hypothesis recognizes that the domestication of dogs provided a longer socialization period than that of other canids facilitating the acceptance of humans as social partners. However, the animals contact with people during its ontogenetic development is essential, if this contact does not occur at the right time, communicative skills will not properly develop. Possibly, during thousands of years dogs have been learning to gaze at the human face as the shortest way to satisfy their needs. This gazing exchange thus became a privileged channel of communication between the two species.(AU)

Mira lo que te muestro:¿Comunicación referencial entre perros domésticos (canis familiaris) y humanos? / Look what I show you: Referential communication between domestic dogs (canis familiaris) and humans?

Históricamente, la comunicación referencial fue considerada como exclusivamente humana. No obstante, recientemente se observó que los animales también pueden referirse hacia objetos externos. Para los perros domésticos, las personas proveen el acceso a los recursos valiosos, por lo que una adecuada comunicación con las mismas resulta fundamental. En este contexto, la comprensión y producción de señales comunicativas visuales cobran especial relevancia. Las evidencias revisadas indican que los perros detectan el estado atencional humano, siguen la orientación de la cabeza para hallar comida oculta y dirigen la atención del humano hacia un objeto fuera de su alcance, mediante la alternancia de la mirada. En función de ello, se sugiere que los perros se comunican de manera referencial con las personas. Sin embargo, esto no necesariamente implica que comprendan al otro como un agente intencional. Se discuten los posibles mecanismos involucrados así como las hipótesis acerca del origen de dichas capacidades.

Referential communication has been historically viewed as uniquely human because it is linked with the use of language. However, there is evidence indicating that animals can also communicate about external objects, by means of vocalizations or gestures. The use of gestures as pointing or gaze alternation involves the ability to direct the attention of an observer to a distal object or entity in the environment. This ability is shared with other species, especially those who live in captivity. For domestic dogs as for the species that live in captivity, humans provide the main resources for survival. For this reason a proper communication with them is essential. Visual social cues can be used to communicate emotional and mental states and so they allow us to predict other's behavior. In this context, both comprehension of the human gaze as well as the production of visual communicative signals by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have special relevance. The evidence reviewed in the present study indicate that dogs can detect cues associated with human attentional states as head orientation, behaving differently when the person remains attentive or inattentive. Also, they are able to follow human head direction to find hidden food in an object choice task, but not gaze direction. Moreover, dogs can direct human attention toward an out-of-reach object, alternating their own gaze between the human face and the target. On that basis, as dogs can detect, follow and direct human attention, it would be possible to suggest that they can referentially communicate with people about distal objects in the environment; however these capacities were principally observed in foraging contexts. Nevertheless this does not imply that dogs necessarily comprehend others as intentional beings. There are several hypotheses to explain the origin of these abilities in dogs, some postulate that the intense process of domestication to which them were submitted, provide them a special sensitivity to communicate with humans. Differently, others stress the importance of ontogeny. Although the domestication process would be essential for understanding dogs' ability to communicate with humans, the experience with people that they have throughout their lives is also involved in the acquisition of these skills. The two-stage hypothesis states that in addition to the domestication process, the sensitivity of a canid to human social cues depends on two types of ontogeny experience. First, interaction with humans during a sensitive developmental period leading to the acceptance of humans as social companions. Second, learning that is not restricted to a particular phase of development to utilize the location and movement of parts of the human body to locate sought-after objects. This would lead to a human-food association by conditioning processes. As domestic dogs spend most of their lives in human families, they have many opportunities to learn to use these signals. This hypothesis recognizes that the domestication of dogs provided a longer socialization period than that of other canids facilitating the acceptance of humans as social partners. However, the animal's contact with people during its ontogenetic development is essential, if this contact does not occur at the right time, communicative skills will not properly develop. Possibly, during thousands of years dogs have been learning to gaze at the human face as the shortest way to satisfy their needs. This gazing exchange thus became a privileged channel of communication between the two species.

Do more sociable dogs gaze longer to the human face than less sociable ones?

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are especially skillful in communicating with humans, and they rely on special abilities to do that. One of these skills involves gazing at human faces in cases of uncertainty or when seeking for something out of reach. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between dogs' sociability level and the ability to learn to gaze in a situation with food in sight but out of their reach. Thirty-nine adult dogs were tested in two procedures: (1) a sociability test that involved interacting with an unknown person, and (2) a learning task that consisted of training trials in which gazing at the experimenter's face was food reinforced, followed by extinction trials in which gazing was not followed by food. A significant positive correlation was found between the duration of physical contact with the unknown person in the sociability test and gaze duration during extinction. Moreover, high sociability dogs gazed significantly longer at humans during extinction trials. We discuss the possibility that, more sociable animals, such as those who pay more attention to the person in our sociability test, may be more persistent in their communicative attempts because the presence of the human is intrinsically reinforcing to them. Finally, we comment on the importance of these findings for training purposes.

Learning interspecific communicative responses in Pampas foxes (Lycalopex gymnocercus).

Domestic dogs show remarkable communicative abilities in their interaction with people. These skills maybe explained by the interaction between the domestication process and learning experiences during ontogeny. Studies carried out on other species of canids, which have not been domesticated are relevant to this topic. The purpose of this article is to study the effect of instrumental learning on captive Pampas foxes' (Lycalopex gymnocercus) communicative responses to humans. Seven foxes were tested in a conflict situation involving food within sight but out of their reach. In these situations dogs typically gaze at the human face to ask for food. In Study 1, there was an increase in gaze duration as a consequence of reinforcement and a decrease during extinction, when animals did not receive any more food. In Study 2, all of the four foxes tested successfully followed proximal pointing gesture to find hidden food. When a distal pointing cue was given, three out of four followed it in the first session and one in the second session. These results are consistent with those previously found in dogs, and suggest that learning experiences allow the development of communicative skills, even in not domesticated canid species.

Cognición social en animales y humanos: ¿es posible establecer un Continuo? / Social cognition in animals and humans: Is it possible to establish a continuum?

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo el análisis de estudios comparados en diversas especies sobre la cognición social, particularmente en los niños, chimpancés y perros domésticos. Si bien las dos primeras especies tienen un mayor parentesco filogenético, los perros, a diferencia de los chimpancés, viven en un contexto humano y comparten un ambiente similar al que experimentan los niños durante su desarrollo. Se analizan las tareas más utilizadas para evaluar capacidades vinculadas con la teoría de la mente, como el seguimiento de la mirada, el reconocimiento del estado atencional y de la perspectiva visual, la relación entre ver y saber así como la comprensión de que las creencias que guían el comportamiento pueden ser falsas. En el momento de comparar las habilidades cognitivas en diferentes especies, homologando las tareas experimentales, es necesario tener en cuenta las características propias de cada una de ellas. Estas comparaciones permiten determinar hasta qué punto estas capacidades son únicamente humanas. Los estudios analizados sugieren que existiría cierta continuidad en las tareas utilizadas así como en las habilidades evaluadas, a excepción de la de falsa creencia. Sin embargo, esta continuidad en los mecanismos involucrados en la cognición social aún es tema de debate.

The aim of the present study is to analyze comparative studies about social cognition in various species, particularly in children, chimpanzees and dogs. While the first two species are closely related, dogs, unlike chimpanzees, live in a human context and share a similar environment to that experienced by children during their development. In this line, we analyze the main tasks used to evaluate theory of mind related skills, such as gaze following, the recognition of others' attentional state and visual perspective taking, the relation between seeing and knowing and the understanding of others' false beliefs. When comparing the cognitive abilities of different species, it is necessary to homologate the experimental tasks taking into account species specific characteristics. These comparisons allow determining to what extent these skills are uniquely human. The evidence reviewed here suggests a continuum in the experimental procedures used as in the evaluated skills, except for the comprehension of false belief. However, the continuity of the mechanisms involved in social cognition is still debated.

Breed differences in dogs' (Canis familiaris) gaze to the human face.

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have been submitted to a vast process of artificial selection and to date, there are hundreds of breeds that differ in their physical and behavioral features. In addition, dogs possess important skills to communicate with humans. Previous evidence indicates that those abilities are related to the domestication process and are modulated by instrumental learning processes. Very few studies, however, have evaluated breed differences in the use and learning of interspecific communicative responses. In Study 1 Retrievers, German Shepherds and Poodles were compared in the acquisition and extinction of their gaze toward the human face, in a conflict situation involving food within sight but out of reach. The groups did not differ in the acquisition of the response, but throughout the extinction phase Retrievers gazed to the human significantly more than the other groups. In Study 2, similar results were obtained in a test without any previous explicit training. These results suggest that these three major popular breeds differ in gazing to humans in a communicative situation.

Diferencias individuales en los perros domésticos (Canis familiaris): Revisión de las evaluaciones conductuales / Individual differences in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris): A behavioral assessment review

El estudio de las diferencias individuales en el comportamiento de los perros domésticos tiene un gran valor aplicado dado que permite una mejor selección de los mismos para cumplir las variadas funciones que tienen en la sociedad humana como perros guía, policía, compañía, rescatistas de personas, etc. En el trabajo que se informa se presenta una revisión de estudios sobre diferencias individuales en perros, basada únicamente en las baterías conductuales que evalúan un conjunto de rasgos del temperamento. Con este objetivo se realiza una breve descripción de cada batería de pruebas utilizadas en la literatura, analizando las definiciones operacionales de las variables evaluadas y los diferentes tipos de estímulos utilizados. Los rasgos mayormente evaluados son: temerosidad, agresividad, disposición al entrenamiento y sociabilidad. La temerosidad, en general es evaluada a través de la respuesta del animal ante la aparición de un estímulo súbito que puede ser intenso o no, como por ejemplo la reacción frente a un ruido fuerte, la apertura de un paraguas, o la aparición repentina de una figura humana. La agresividad se mide a través de la reacción frente a la amenaza o provocación por parte de un humano, la sustracción de un objeto o la confrontación con un perro dominante. La disposición al entrenamiento es estudiada a través de la respuesta del animal frente a diferentes estímulos como el juego con un trapo o una cuerda, el ejercicio de devolución de un objeto o la obediencia frente a distintos comandos. Por último, la sociabilidad se evalúa con la aparición o el acercamiento de un humano desconocido o con la exposición a un perro no familiar. Se discuten además las limitaciones metodológicas de las baterías así como también los importantes usos aplicados de las mismas.

A review of the research on individual differences in domestic dogs is presented in this paper. Temperament has been defined as the group of individual differences in behavior which is manifested steadily across situations and over time. It has been studied in a wide range of species including humans. Domestic dogs have undergone intense processes of selection on behavioral traits during domestication, and in the development of different breeds. These processes produced a great morphological, genetic and behavioral variability, which turned the dog in an interesting model for the study of individual differences. In this study we present a review of the different test batteries developed for the assessment of various behavioral traits. Test batteries are defined as standard experimental situations where a stimulus is used to provoke a behavior which is compared statistically to that of other individuals in the same situations, in order to classify the subjects. To achieve this aim, a brief description of seven batteries is given. Four of them evaluated dogs from breeding or train ing centers. Their aim was to select those animals which possess the most adequate traits to become guide or police dogs. The remaining batteries evaluated shelter dogs in order to elaborate a behavioral profile to improve the adoption process. In each battery described we analysed the operational definitions of the variables, the method used for scoring the animal's responses (overall vs. direct), the use of trained observers and the different types of stimuli used. The behavioral traits that are mainly assessed in dogs are fearfulness, aggressiveness, responsiveness to training, and sociability. Fearfulness is generally assessed through the appearance of a startling stimulus, which can be intense or not, such as the reaction towards a strong noise, the open ing of an umbrella, or the sudden appearance of a human figure. Aggressiveness is measured through the reaction towards a threat or provocation of a human being, the removal of an object, or the confrontation with a dominant dog. Responsiveness to train ing is studied through the response of the animal towards different stimuli, such as tug of war, retrieval, or obedience to commands. Finally, sociability is assessed with the appearance or approach of an unknown human being, or with the exposure to an unfamiliar dog. On the whole, the relevance of the assessment of these traits is fundamentally linked to the close relationship between dogs and humans. On the other hand, from a methodological point of view, it is important to note that most of the batteries evaluated a great number of subjects, which is difficult to achieve. Also, they allow to study behavioral variability in several traits at the same time, providing a large amount of information. Notably, several tests obtained predictive validity. The main difficulties presented by the temperament batteries are the diversity in nomenclature of the same traits and the variety of definitions used. Some of them even lack the reliability and validity requirements which are necessary to be considered measuring instruments. Furthermore, complex statistical analyses are done with unreliably obtained data. To conclude, despite the methodological limitations, temperament batteries have a great applied value. They allow the adequate selection of animals before the investment of valuable resources in their training, and a correct temperament evaluation can improve the adoption process of shelter dogs, diminishing the risk of relinquishment by predicting behavioral problems. The scope of this subject does not only matter to researchers interested in animal models of individual differences in behavior, but also to all the professionals who work in applied areas where dogs are an elemental part of the task, as the rescue or search of missing people, assisted therapy, drug detection, herding, etc.

Communication between domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans: dogs are good learners.

Communication involves a wide range of behaviours that animals emit in their daily lives and can take place between different species, as is the case of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans. Dogs have shown to be successful at following human cues to solve the object choice task. The question is what are the mechanisms involved in these communicative abilities. This article presents a review of studies about the communicative capacities of domestic dogs emphasizing the ones that considered the effect of associative learning upon these skills. In addition, evidence about differences in dogs' performance in following physical or social cues is summarized and two studies where both signals compete are presented here. The obtained results suggest that the training of a colour cue reverses the dogs' preference for the social one. These results are discussed in light of the findings that gave importance to the learning effect, concluding that the dogs fundamentally follow those cues that allowed them to obtain reinforcers in their previous learning history.

Rasgos del temperamento de los perros domésticos (Canis familiaris): evaluaciones conductuales / Temperament traits of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris): Behavioural tests

Los rasgos del temperamento se definen como tendencias conductuales estables entre situaciones similares y a lo largo del tiempo. En el presente trabajo se revisan las pruebas conductuales diseñadas para la evaluación de rasgos aislados del temperamento en los perros domésticos. Para cada dimensión se describen los estímulos empleados, las respuestas evaluadas y el correlato fisiológico de las mismas. Los rasgos más estudiados fueron la temerosidad, la agresividad y la sociabilidad. Sin embargo, sólo la primera cuenta con correlatos fisiológicos bien establecidos. Finalmente, las evaluaciones conductuales resultan de suma importancia para la selección de los perros para las distintas funciones que cumplen en la sociedad humana: detección de drogas, compañía, guardia, rescate de personas, etc.

A temperament trait is defined as a stable behavioral tendency along time and among similar situations. This study intends to analyze the behavioral tests designed for the evaluation of isolated temperamental traits of domestic dogs. The type of stimulus used, the behaviors evaluated and the physiological substrates are described for each dimension. Fearfulness, aggressiveness and sociability were the most studied traits. Nevertheless, only the first one has well established physiological bases. Finally, behavioral tests are of great relevance for selecting dogs for the different roles that they perform in human society, such as drug detection, company, security, human rescue, etc.

Learning and owner-stranger effects on interspecific communication in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

Domestic dogs are very successful at following human cues like gazing or pointing to find hidden food in an object choice task. They solve this kind of situation at their first attempts and from early stages of their development and perform better than wolves. Most of the authors proposed that these abilities are a domestication product, and independent from learning processes. There are few systematic studies on the effects of learning on dogs' communicative skills. We aim to evaluate the effect of extinction and reversal learning procedures on the use of the pointing gesture in an object choice task. The results showed that dogs stopped following the pointing cue in the extinction and that they learned to choose the not pointed container in the reversal learning. Results suggest that instrumental learning plays an important role in interspecific communication mechanisms between humans and dogs. In both experiments for half of the subjects the pointer was the owner and for the rest was a stranger. A differential effect was found: extinction was slower but reversal learning was faster when the owner gave the cue. This data indicates that the relationship of the dog with the person who emits the cue influences performance.

Incentive contrast in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

Dogs (Canis familiaris) trained to receive a preferred food (dry beef liver) from an experimenter learned to maintain a longer gaze on the experimenter than dogs receiving a less preferred food (dog pellets). Dogs downshifted from dry liver to pellets rejected food more frequently than nonshifted controls. Gaze duration also decreased in downshifted dogs below the level of a group always reinforced with pellets. In addition, downshifted dogs tended to move away from the experimenter, adopting a lying down posture. This phenomenon, called successive negative contrast, has been described in analogous experiments with a variety of mammalian species, but has failed to occur in similar experiments with nonmammalian vertebrates. Unlike similar previous observations, the present data were obtained in an environment involving interspecific communication.

Calidad de vida en perros alojados en refugios: intervenciones para mejorar su bienestar / Quality of life in shelter dogs: interventions to improve their welfare

Los refugios caninos tienen como finalidad albergar a los perros extraviados, vagabundos o abandonados. En Argentina, a diferencia de lo que sucede en países anglosajones, la estadía de los animales en los refugios se vuelve permanente, entre otras razones por la ausencia de políticas adecuadas de adopción. En el presente trabajo se revisan las investigaciones realizadas con perros alojados en refugios. La información recabada sugiere que éstos muestran alteraciones conductuales y fisiológicas similares a las que se observan en otras especies bajo condiciones de cautiverio. Esto indica que en dichas circunstancias el bienestar se encuentra comprometido.Con el objetivo de mejorar la calidad de vida de los animales se han llevado a cabo numerosas intervenciones como la introducción de objetos e interacciones sociales con humanos o conespecíficos arrojando resultados variables. Por otro lado, la implementación de evaluaciones conductuales puede ser de utilidad en el medio local mejorando el trabajo del personal de los refugios. A la luz de los resultados obtenidos se sugieren nuevas estrategias para la mejora del bienestar canino en los establecimientos de nuestra región.

Dog shelters have as purpose to lodge the missed, stray or relinquisheddogs. In Argentina, unlike what happens in Anglo-Saxon countries, theanimals stay in the shelters in a permanent way, in part due to the absence of suitable policies of adoption. In the present work, investigations about shelter dogs are reviewed. Data suggest that they show behavioral and physiological alterations similar to the ones observed in other species undercaptivity. This indicates that in the above mentioned circumstances the welfare is in danger. With the aim to improve the quality of life of the dogs, numerous interventions have been carried out but did not lead to conclusive results. For example, the introduction of objects and social interactions with humans or conspecifics were done. The implementation of behavioral evaluations in the local shelters can be useful to improve the staff’s duties. Taking account of the reviewed results, new strategies for the improvement of the canine welfare in the establishments of our region are suggested.

Effect of reinforcement, reinforcer omission and extinction on a communicative response in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

There is a controversy about the mechanisms involved in the interspecific communicative behaviour in domestic dogs. The main question is whether this behaviour is a result of instrumental learning or higher cognitive skills are required. The present investigations were undertaken to study the effect of learning processes upon the gaze towards the human's face as a communicative response. To such purpose, in Study 1, gaze response was subjected to three types of reinforcement schedules: differential reinforcement, reinforcer omission, and extinction in a situation of "asking for food". Results showed a significant increase in gaze duration in the differential reinforcement phase and a significant decrease in both the omission and extinction phases. These changes were quite rapid, since they occurred only after three training trials in each phase. Furthermore, extinction resulted in animal behaviour changes, such as an increase in the distance from the experimenter, the back position and lying behaviour. This is the first systematic evaluation of the behavioural changes caused by reward withdrawal (frustration) in dogs. In Study 2, the gaze response was studied in a situation where dogs walked along with their owners/trainers. These results show that learning plays an important role in this communicative response. The possible implications of these results for service dogs are discussed.