Your browser doesn't support javascript.
loading
Visual continuum in non-human animals: serial dependence revealed in dogs.
Lõoke, Miina; Guérineau, Cécile; Broseghini, Anna; Mongillo, Paolo; Marinelli, Lieta.
Affiliation
  • Lõoke M; Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD 35020, Italy.
  • Guérineau C; Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD 35020, Italy.
  • Broseghini A; Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD 35020, Italy.
  • Mongillo P; Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD 35020, Italy.
  • Marinelli L; Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione, University of Padua, Legnaro, PD 35020, Italy.
Proc Biol Sci ; 291(2027): 20240051, 2024 Aug.
Article in En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-39045690
ABSTRACT
Serial dependence is a recently described phenomenon by which the perceptual evaluation of a stimulus is biased by a previously attended one. By integrating stimuli over time, serial dependence is believed to ensure a stable conscious experience. Despite increasing studies in humans, it is unknown if the process occurs also in other species. Here, we assessed whether serial dependence occurs in dogs. To this aim, dogs were trained on a quantity discrimination task before being presented with a discrimination where one of the discriminanda was preceded by a task-irrelevant stimulus. If dogs are susceptible to serial dependence, the task-irrelevant stimulus was hypothesized to influence the perception of the subsequently presented quantity. Our results revealed that dogs perceived the currently presented quantity to be closer to the one presented briefly before, in accordance with serial dependence. The direction and strength of the effect were comparable to those observed in humans. Data regarding dogs' attention during the task suggest that dogs used two different quantity estimation mechanisms, an indication of a higher cognitive mechanism involved in the process. The present results are the first empirical evidence that serial dependence extends beyond humans, suggesting that the mechanism is shared by phylogenetically distant mammals.
Subject(s)
Key words

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Attention / Visual Perception Limits: Animals Language: En Journal: Proc Biol Sci Journal subject: BIOLOGIA Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Italia

Full text: 1 Collection: 01-internacional Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Attention / Visual Perception Limits: Animals Language: En Journal: Proc Biol Sci Journal subject: BIOLOGIA Year: 2024 Document type: Article Affiliation country: Italia