A review of the unsolvable task in dog communication and cognition: comparing different methodologies

Effect of Sex and Reproductive Status on Inhibitory Control and Social Cognition in the Domestic Dog (Canis familiaris)

“…The study by Konno and colleagues [ 39 ] measured the dogs’ behavior for 1 min (compared to 2 min in our study), and the owner was not present in the room. According to previous findings, both differences in methodology could have affected the results [ 34 ].…”

“…The other possible conclusion is that males are more persistent than females in problem-solving situations. Previous research has provided mixed results on whether the unsolvable task assesses social communication or persistence [ 23 , 34 , 36 , 62 , 63 ]. However, recent studies have found that dogs which scored higher in human-directed gazing were more likely to be selected as service or detection dogs in the future [ 64 , 65 ].…”

“…The dog has three opportunities for action in this situation: ( a ) persisting with the problem and attempting to solve it independently, ( b ) seeking attention from a human by using gaze, physical contact, or vocalizations, or ( c ) abandoning the task. This test has been used extensively in canine cognitive research to assess social cognition and persistence in dogs [ 34 , 36 , 38 , 48 , 52 ]. This task included a training phase and a 2 min test phase.…”

“…Another extensively studied aspect of canine cognition is their social communicative ability in their interactions with humans. When dogs are incapable of solving a problem where food is visible but not accessible, they often seek human attention by using eye-contact or other human-directed social behaviors [ 34 ]. In contrast, wolves and other species tend to attempt to solve the problem independently, even when raised with humans from birth [ 35 , 36 ].…”

“…In contrast, wolves and other species tend to attempt to solve the problem independently, even when raised with humans from birth [ 35 , 36 ]. The dogs’ human-directed gazing behavior has been interpreted as a social problem-solving strategy, and as a request for help from the human [ 27 , 34 , 37 , 38 ]. This behavior shows individual and breed variation [ 39 ] and seems to also have a genetic component [ 40 , 41 ].…”