Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 22 November 2002:
Vol. 298. no. 5598, pp. 1634 - 1636
DOI: 10.1126/science.1072702
Prev | Table of Contents

Reports

The Domestication of Social Cognition in Dogs

Brian Hare,12* Michelle Brown,1 Christina Williamson,3 Michael Tomasello2

Dogs are more skillful than great apes at a number of tasks in which they must read human communicative signals indicating the location of hidden food. In this study, we found that wolves who were raised by humans do not show these same skills, whereas domestic dog puppies only a few weeks old, even those that have had little human contact, do show these skills. These findings suggest that during the process of domestication, dogs have been selected for a set of social-cognitive abilities that enable them to communicate with humans in unique ways.

1 Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
2 Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Inselstrasse 22, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
3 Wolf Hollow Wolf Sanctuary, Ipswich, MA 01938, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bhare{at}fas.harvard.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Comment on "Differential Sensitivity to Human Communication in Dogs, Wolves, and Human Infants".
S. Marshall-Pescini, C. Passalacqua, P. Valsecchi, and E. Prato-Previde (2010)
Science 329, 142
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Interactive Kinds.
M. A. Khalidi (2010)
Brit J Philos Sci 61, 335-360
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Facial cues of dominance modulate the short-term gaze-cuing effect in human observers.
B. C. Jones, L. M. DeBruine, J. C. Main, A. C. Little, L. L. M. Welling, D. R. Feinberg, and B. P. Tiddeman (2010)
Proc R Soc B 277, 617-624
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Like Infant, Like Dog.
M. Tomasello and J. Kaminski (2009)
Science 325, 1213-1214
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Differential Sensitivity to Human Communication in Dogs, Wolves, and Human Infants.
J. Topal, G. Gergely, A. Erdohegyi, G. Csibra, and A. Miklosi (2009)
Science 325, 1269-1272
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
ASAS CENTENNIAL PAPER: Perspectives on domestication: The history of our relationship with man's best friend.
L. Case (2008)
J Anim Sci 86, 3245-3251
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dogs catch human yawns.
R. M Joly-Mascheroni, A. Senju, and A. J Shepherd (2008)
Biol Lett 4, 446-448
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Communication-induced memory biases in preverbal infants.
J. M. D. Yoon, M. H. Johnson, and G. Csibra (2008)
PNAS 105, 13690-13695
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Humans Have Evolved Specialized Skills of Social Cognition: The Cultural Intelligence Hypothesis.
E. Herrmann, J. Call, M. V. Hernandez-Lloreda, B. Hare, and M. Tomasello (2007)
Science 317, 1360-1366
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rhesus monkeys correctly read the goal-relevant gestures of a human agent.
M. D Hauser, D. Glynn, and J. Wood (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 1913-1918
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Domesticated Nature: Shaping Landscapes and Ecosystems for Human Welfare.
P. Kareiva, S. Watts, R. McDonald, and T. Boucher (2007)
Science 316, 1866-1869
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From Nonhuman to Human Mind: What Changed and Why?.
B. Hare (2007)
Current Directions in Psychological Science 16, 60-64
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Canid genomics: Mapping genes for behavior in the silver fox.
T. C. Spady and E. A. Ostrander (2007)
Genome Res. 17, 259-263
   Full Text »    PDF »
The canine genome.
E. A. Ostrander and R. K. Wayne (2005)
Genome Res. 15, 1706-1716
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Word Learning in a Domestic Dog: Evidence for "Fast Mapping".
J. Kaminski, J. Call, and J. Fischer (2004)
Science 304, 1682-1683
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)