A review of domestic dogs' (Canis familiaris) human-like behaviors: or why behavior analysts should stop worrying and love their dogs.
Dogs can become handy lab partners for testing ABA principles before moving to human clients.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dixon et al. (2008) wrote a story-style review about dogs. They asked: do dogs act like tiny humans?
The authors hunted for human-like behaviors in the dog world. They wanted behavior analysts to notice dogs and run real studies.
What they found
Dogs copy many human social cues. They follow pointing, gaze, and even words without formal training.
The paper says we lack hard data. We need operant work, not just cute stories.
How this fits with other research
KAPLAN et al. (1965) built the first dog lever. Their metal panel let dogs press for food, proving dogs can do lab tasks.
Rincover et al. (1975) showed rats give contrast effects like pigeons. Dixon et al. (2008) makes the same plea: if rats and pigeons count, dogs should too.
Poling et al. (2020) want clearer ABA words. Dixon et al. (2008) want clearer ABA species. Both push the field to drop old limits.
Why it matters
You can treat dogs as cheap, willing subjects. Test new teaching methods with them before trying with kids. Use leashes, treats, and clickers you already own. Collect data on latency, rate, or accuracy just like in any operant study. Dogs give fast sessions, no IRB hassle, and clear graphs. Start small: shape a paw touch, then build to multi-step chains. The field gets new evidence; you get a well-trained office mascot.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Dogs likely were the first animals to be domesticated and as such have shared a common environment with humans for over ten thousand years. Only recently, however, has this species' behavior been subject to scientific scrutiny. Most of this work has been inspired by research in human cognitive psychology and suggests that in many ways dogs are more human-like than any other species, including nonhuman primates. Behavior analysts should add their expertise to the study of dog behavior, both to add objective behavioral analyses of experimental data and to effectively integrate this new knowledge into applied work with dogs.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 2008 · doi:10.1901/jeab.2008.89-247