Abstract
In this chapter, we explore whether domestic dogs and gray wolves share a similar cognitive development with regards to how they represent physical and/or social objects. To reach this objective, we examine two key components of the Piagetian theory of cognitive development in the gray wolf: object permanence and sensorimotor intelligence. We detail how the capacity to search and locate disappearing objects develops in wolves and compare these data with those observed in previous studies with dogs. We then further describe an observational study of sensorimotor intelligence with these wolves. Overall, the results suggest that the development of object permanence is similar in dogs and wolves, both species reaching Stage 5b of object permanence by the age of 11 weeks. In terms of sensorimotor intelligence, Stage 4 was the upper limit of sensorimotor intelligence we observed in wolves. Moreover, up to 6 weeks of age, the behaviors of wolf puppies are directed predominantly towards their conspecifics, and by Week 8, wolves’ interest in inanimate object increases significantly. In discussion, we explore the factors affecting the development of object permanence and sensorimotor intelligence in canines.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wants to thank Clive Wynne, director of research at Wolf Park, Battle Ground, IN, for enthusiastically supporting this research project. They also want to express their gratitude to the Wolf Park’s staff for their warm welcome and help during the course of this study. Special thanks are also due to Kathryn Lord and Monique Udell for their assistance in nurturing the wolf pups and collecting data, and to Catherine Fiset, who revised several previous versions of this manuscript as part of her internship sponsored by Shad Valley International. This research was supported by a discovery grant from NSERC (203747-07) and a research grant from Université de Moncton. The experiment received approval from the Comité de protection des animaux from the Faculté des Études supérieures et de la recherche de l’Université de Moncton, which is responsible for the application and enforcement of rules of the Canadian Council on Animal Care.
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Fiset, S., Nadeau-Marchand, P., Hall, N.J. (2014). Cognitive Development in Gray Wolves: Development of Object Permanence and Sensorimotor Intelligence with Respect to Domestic Dogs. In: Horowitz, A. (eds) Domestic Dog Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-53994-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-53994-7_7
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