Responder de Cães por Exclusão em Tarefas de Discriminação Condicional

This study trained the responding by exclusion in dogs, based on a conditional discrimination between dictated names and objects, and empirically evaluated the influence in that performance of human social cues (gestures directed to stimuli) towards the opposite stimulus. As a result, both animals showed rapid acquisition of control by the new stimulus, a pattern that persisted even after the inclusion of conflicting social cues toward the wrong stimulus (orally instructing the selection of S+, but pointing to the S-). The influence of conflicting social cues when the stimuli involved were familiar is clear, a pattern showed by the disruption of pre-established control. We discuss the relevance of this study in the comparison of different aspects of the environment on the behavior of dogs, and the need to include control probes for novelty in future research is emphasized. Keywords: exclusion; animal learning; conditional discrimination; dogs