Dog Behavior Seminar

PSYC 489: Dog Behavior

Readings
Textbook

• Budiansky, S. (2000). The Truth about Dogs. Penguin Books, New York .

Articles:

• Bekoff, M. (2001). Observations of scent-marking and discriminating self from others by a domestic dog (Canis familiaris): Tales of displaced yellow snow. Behavioural Processes, 55, 75-79.
• Bekoff, M. (2004). Social communication in dogs. In M. Bekoff (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior: Aggressive behavior to Curiosity (pp. 411-415), Vol. 1, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Brauer, J., Kaminski, J., Riedel, J., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2006). Making inferences about the location of hidden food: Social dog, causal ape. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120, 38-47.
• Brisbin, I., Austad, S. N. (1991). Testing the individual odour theory of canine olfaction. Animal Behaviour. 42, 63-69.
• Call, J., Brauer, J., Kaminski, J., & Tomasello, M. (2003). Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) are sensitive to the attentional state of humans. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 117, 257-263.
• Collier-Baker, E., Davis, J.M., & Suddendorf, T. (2004). Do dogs (Canis familiaris) understand invisible displacement? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 118, 421-433.
• Fiset, S., Beaulieu, C., & Landry, F. (2003). Duration of dogs' (Canis familiaris) working memory in search for disappearing objects. Animal Cognition, 6,  1-10.
• Fukuzawa, M., Mills, D.S., Cooper, J.J. (2005). The effect of human command phonetic characteristics on auditory cognition in dogs (Canis familiaris). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 119, 117-120.
• Gazit, I., & Terkel, J. (2003). Domination of olfaction over vision in explosives detection by dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 82, 65-73.
• Hare, B., Brown, M., Williamson, C., & Tomasello, M. (2002). The domestication of social cognition in dogs, Science, 298,1634-1636.
• Hepper, P. G. (1988). The discrimination of human odour by the dog. Perception, 17, 549-554.
• Kaminski, J., Call, J. Fischer, J. (2004). Word learning in a domestic dog: Evidence for “fast mapping”, Science, 304, 1682 – 1683.
• Kaulfuss, P., & Mills, D.S. (2008). Neophilia in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) and its implications for studies of dog cognition. Animal Cognition, 11, 553-556.
• Lupfer-Johnson, G., & Ross, J. (2007). Dogs acquire food preferences from interacting with recently fed conspecifics. Behavioural Processes, 74, 104-106.
• Macpherson, K., & Roberts, W.A. (2006). Do dogs (Canis familiaris) seek help in an emergency? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 120, 113-119.
• Marcella, K.L. (1983). A note on canine aggression towards veterinarians. Applied Animal Ethology, 10, 155-157.
• Milgram, N.W., et al. (2002). Dietary enrichment counteracts age-associated cognitive dysfunction in canines. Neurobiology of Aging, 23, 737-745.
• Osthaus, B., Lea, S.E.G., & Slater, A.M. (2005). Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) fail to show understanding of means-end connections in a string-pulling task. Animal Cognition, 8, 37-47.
• Osthaus, B., Slater, A.M., & Lea, S.E.G. (2003). Can dogs defy gravity? A comparison with the human infant and non-human primate. Developmental Science, 6, 489-497.
• Pennisi, E. (2007). The geneticist's best friend. Science, 317, 1668-1671.
• Pickel, D., Manucy, G.P., Walker, D.B., Hall, S.B., Walker, J.C. (2004). Evidence for canine olfactory detection of melanoma. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 89, 107-116.
• Pongracz, P., Miklosi, A., Timar-Geng, K., & Csanyi, V. (2004). Verbal attention getting as a key factor in social learning between dog (Canis familiaris) and human. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 118, 375-383.
• Range, F., Aust, Ul, Steurer, M. & Huber, L. (2008). Visual categorization of natural stimuli by domestic dogs. Animal Cognition, 11, 339-347.
• Svartberg, K. (2006). Breed-typical behaviour in dogs—Historical remnants or recent constructs? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 96, 293-313.
• Wells, D.L. (2003). Comparison of two treatments for preventing dogs eating their own faeces. Veterinary Record, 153, 51-53.
• Wells, D.L., & Hepper, P.G. (2003). Directional tracking in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 84, 297-305.
• Wiseman, R. Smith, M., & Milton, J. (1998). Can animals detect when their owners are returning home? An experimental test of the 'psychic pet' phenomenon. British Journal of Psychology, 89, 453-462.
• Wright, J. C. (1980). The development of social structure during the primary socialization period in German shepherds. Developmental Psychobiology. 13, 17-24.
• Yin, S. (2002). A new perspective on barking in dogs (Canis familiaris). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 116, 189-193.
• Yin, S., & McCowan, B. (2004). Barking in domestic dogs: Context specificity and individual identification, Animal Behaviour, 68, 343-355.

Course Details
In this course, we will examine the experimental research on dog behavior (note - this is NOT a course on dog training). The dog will be studied as a unique organism - we will actively avoid imputing human experience onto the dog. The topics will include sensory perception (color vision, visual and olfactory acuity), social behavior (dominance hierarchies), reinforcement principles, behavior genetics (the effects of inbreeding on violent behavior), and memory/attention. Materials will include a popular text on dog behavior and published scientific articles.

An integral part of the course will be discussion of articles and chapters from the book. Thus, pop-quizzes will be used to insure that students are maintaining their reading responsibilities - we cannot have a discussion if only a few of us have read the material.

Your final grade is based on your scores on four exams (20% each), and pop-quizzes (20%). The exams will be multiple choice and short essay. Grade cutoffs will be 90/80/70/60.

Makeup/Late Policy, Complaints, and Cheating
In order to turn in something late without a penalty, you will need to provide a completed explanation of absence along with appropriate documentation (e.g. excuse signed by medical professional along with phone # and patient id, copy of funeral notice, police report). Apologies, but requiring documentation for all types of absences is the fairest policy. Late assignments without accompanying documentation accrue a late penalty.

Complaints and cheating will be handled in accordance with the policies outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.

Persons with disabilities
If you have a documented disability requiring special accommodations for assignments, contact me within the first two weeks of class so special arrangements can be made.

Late Penalties: There are no make-ups for missed pop-quizzes. If you have a documented excuse, the score simply won't be included.

Course material is available on-line at: http://www.psychology.siu.edu/bcs/young.html