Reilly and Sage aid cognitive science at Harvard
This afternoon, I took the Brindles in to Cambridge to participate in cognitive experiments at Harvard's Canine Cognition Lab in the Department of Evolutionary Cognition. It was an adventure on many levels.
Level 1- my dogs are country dogs. They had never been to the city. I could not watch them closely but when I did look back at Sage while we were at traffic lights in Harvard Square, he was very busy watching people crossing everywhere. He has never seen so many people in his life, nor so few trees. Reilly either but she didnt look quite as dazzled.
Level 2- the parking lot was in a stockade fenced area with a grassy edge, so when we arrived I took them out for a short walk to pee and get acclimated. We were greeted by a grad student Research Assistant, who my dogs greeted with wags and kisses. Good on Sage who was a little stressed by being in such a weird place.
Level 3- We filled out paperwork and then went into the building- a huge white tower that loomed over the parking lot. The largest building my dogs have ever seen- by about 12 stories. A dog barked in a park near us and Sage looked, growled and refocused when I told him leave it. We got in the building and our Research Assistant whisked us right into - an elevator! Two more people followed us in and before I could say "These two large brindle dogs are a bit nervous having never been in an elevator before..." These people were petting my dogs and asking me about them. "They look like they just came from the Serengeti" *ding* 10th floor...
Level 4- the area we worked in had two rooms- the experiment room was a corner room with large windows and tape on the floor as well as two cameras and some buckets. But first we sat in the observation room, which looked into the experiment room through one-way glass. In here we met the other grad students and a guy named Marc, who would watch my non-testing dog for me from the observation room. "everyone here is good with dogs,' said my RA, " but Marc is fantastic with dogs!" Ok, I thought. Everyone got comfortable (but not TOO familiar as the dogs were not to prefer any researcher) and I received my instructions, which were to have my dog sit within a square taped to the floor, facing the researcher, to give no cues and to release the dog when the researcher dropped her head.
Level 5- Wisely, the research assistant recommended that if either of my dogs was prone to separation anxiety that we should use that dog first. So off with Sage I went, leaving Reilly with Marc in the observation room. Sage was *delighted* to discover the windows and stood up on his hind legs with his paws on the sills and looked out over Cambridge. He likes to be up high where he can be lookout man: the A-frame in agility, the back of the couch, the tops of boulders when we're hiking- and I think he was positively enthralled...
The hardest part of the afternoon was getting my dogs into position in the taped square. Since in later parts of the test, the dogs were to choose between the sides of a barrier (L or R) they wanted them to be as centered as possible. Unfortunately I have not spent a lot of time on fronts and finishes, finding I had a plateful of more urgent and relevant matters to address, so this was difficult and I soon saw why some of my initial paperwork asked if my dogs reacted angrily to being picked up or positioned. They didnt but they also didnt think it was terribly important. "Mom you never ask me to do stupid things, what's up with the damn box?"
The research Assistant (RA) would call Sage's name, show him a treat and allow him to watch her place the treat in an open box, I released him, he ate it. We built this up till he had 2 boxes to choose from, with lids to be nosed aside to get the treats. No problem. After a while she would place the treat and them move away from the box, or go behind the other box or turn away from the box, but by this time Sage thought this game was dumb and he was only getting one lousy zukes mini for opening the box, which was obvious which one she put it in anyway and he began to notice other things, like the one way window and he walked right over to it and looked, I thought at my reflection. Perhaps he heard Reilly in there? I don't think he could see her. I collected him for another go but after that he decided to go back to his lookout at the window. A seagull flew by which was much more interesting, and he was lost from there on and did not finish the experiment. I told him he was a GREAT dog, and I was very proud of him, frankly, just for taking the elevator. Sage went out to switch places with Reilly and hang out with Marc.
Level 6- Reilly came in and was very happy. She had better focus on this busywork, but hated having to start from the square. She looked at me as if to say, "This, Mom, is a beautiful SIT- the square doesnt matter!" and Sit is not Reilly's favorite position anyway- she'd much rather stand. So I let her stand in the square and she stuck with the program. She had an early setback when she did not want to open the lid on the box and looked at it, then me and whined. The RA swapped out the plastic cover for a laminated cardboard cover and we were good to go. Rei went all the way to the end of the experiment, so she did the second half where two men came in and placed treats and did things like: one guy placed the treats in both boxes and the other guy scratched his arm before they both stepped back directly behind a box each. Once on guy stayed facing forward and the other turned his back. Rei got a treat whichever box she picked, but they were noting her choice of box to go to in relation to the researcher close to that box. The last one an RA put a treat in a box behind a screen and then moved the box and I released her to find it.
Level 7- we went back to the observation room and the RA went to get Sage- apparently he had been whining a bit (Mom!) and went to go play with Marc in his office. He fell asleep in Marc's place but was happy to see Rei and I back in the room. The two men - who had been dressed in identical hats and scrubs and coats for the experiment came in now to love up the dogs and ask me about them, before they said thank you and goodbye. The RA and I debriefed and told me the same experiments had been done previously with monkeys, who view humans as competitors for the treats and would always choose the least confrontational box in relation to the position of the researcher and which of them touched the treat last. They decided to do this with dogs to compare with monkeys because while monkeys are related to us, dogs have been WORKING with us for thousands of years and have awareness of our cues. Dogs also (generally) are more likely to see us as a source of good things, not competitors for. Furthemore, from a practical standpoint, dogs are cheap to study- being plentiful as local pets and there is no need to feed or house them as they go right back home again when done! The project does not rate dogs' intelligence, or account for breed, nor can they tell you your dog is smarter or less smart than any other dog- its only about dogs as a SPECIES and how they compare to monkeys in relating to a human regarding the subject of a speck of food in a box.
Level 8- We took the elevator back down- Sage was wise to the elevator this time and the dropping sensation was different. He got low and seemed uncomfortable, and when we stopped to pick up more riders on the way down he pulled for the door, but we all kept him in and I think actually having all those people in the elevator was more comforting to him than being loose with room and just Rei and I. I confess I was a little worried that if he became afraid in the elevator, he might panic and direct onto Reilly and we'd have two large dogs making a scary fuss in an elevator full of people, but that didnt even come *close* to happening and I had no time to worry about it. *ding* ground floor!
We were given the last two "Canine Cognition Lab" logo printed red leashes as thank you gifts and sent on our way home. The pups were tired and hungry (Reilly less so, since she did the whole test session) and rode home fine. All in all it was an interesting thing to do on a rainy Friday afternoon, with some new positive safe exposures to the dogs' credit. Various tests have been going on since february and it is possible we could be invited back for future tests, but they need a very large sample of different dogs so it is probably unlikley.
The RA told me that anecdotally, the labs and goldens are the most motivated to work on the study because they are just so very food motivated, and the border collies seem to get in a rut and just keep picking the same side box every time. As befitting the most dominant part of his heritage, Sage has little tolerance for pointless busy work, however, and I share that opinion with him, so I am perfectly proud of him for being a free spirit and enjoying his Kai-in-the-Sky experience.
Sage thinks he might like to be up high like that again and look for longer, and he told me that Marc who he was hanging out with was actually Marc Hauser, the author of "Wild Minds" on my own bookshelf! I told him he was one lucky dog to have met so many famous dog folks: Suzanne Clothier, Emma Parsons, Alice Moon-Fanelli, and Marc Hauser. Sage just said "yeahyeah- drive home faster, dinner lives there."
Level 1- my dogs are country dogs. They had never been to the city. I could not watch them closely but when I did look back at Sage while we were at traffic lights in Harvard Square, he was very busy watching people crossing everywhere. He has never seen so many people in his life, nor so few trees. Reilly either but she didnt look quite as dazzled.
Level 2- the parking lot was in a stockade fenced area with a grassy edge, so when we arrived I took them out for a short walk to pee and get acclimated. We were greeted by a grad student Research Assistant, who my dogs greeted with wags and kisses. Good on Sage who was a little stressed by being in such a weird place.
Level 3- We filled out paperwork and then went into the building- a huge white tower that loomed over the parking lot. The largest building my dogs have ever seen- by about 12 stories. A dog barked in a park near us and Sage looked, growled and refocused when I told him leave it. We got in the building and our Research Assistant whisked us right into - an elevator! Two more people followed us in and before I could say "These two large brindle dogs are a bit nervous having never been in an elevator before..." These people were petting my dogs and asking me about them. "They look like they just came from the Serengeti" *ding* 10th floor...
Level 4- the area we worked in had two rooms- the experiment room was a corner room with large windows and tape on the floor as well as two cameras and some buckets. But first we sat in the observation room, which looked into the experiment room through one-way glass. In here we met the other grad students and a guy named Marc, who would watch my non-testing dog for me from the observation room. "everyone here is good with dogs,' said my RA, " but Marc is fantastic with dogs!" Ok, I thought. Everyone got comfortable (but not TOO familiar as the dogs were not to prefer any researcher) and I received my instructions, which were to have my dog sit within a square taped to the floor, facing the researcher, to give no cues and to release the dog when the researcher dropped her head.
Level 5- Wisely, the research assistant recommended that if either of my dogs was prone to separation anxiety that we should use that dog first. So off with Sage I went, leaving Reilly with Marc in the observation room. Sage was *delighted* to discover the windows and stood up on his hind legs with his paws on the sills and looked out over Cambridge. He likes to be up high where he can be lookout man: the A-frame in agility, the back of the couch, the tops of boulders when we're hiking- and I think he was positively enthralled...
The hardest part of the afternoon was getting my dogs into position in the taped square. Since in later parts of the test, the dogs were to choose between the sides of a barrier (L or R) they wanted them to be as centered as possible. Unfortunately I have not spent a lot of time on fronts and finishes, finding I had a plateful of more urgent and relevant matters to address, so this was difficult and I soon saw why some of my initial paperwork asked if my dogs reacted angrily to being picked up or positioned. They didnt but they also didnt think it was terribly important. "Mom you never ask me to do stupid things, what's up with the damn box?"
The research Assistant (RA) would call Sage's name, show him a treat and allow him to watch her place the treat in an open box, I released him, he ate it. We built this up till he had 2 boxes to choose from, with lids to be nosed aside to get the treats. No problem. After a while she would place the treat and them move away from the box, or go behind the other box or turn away from the box, but by this time Sage thought this game was dumb and he was only getting one lousy zukes mini for opening the box, which was obvious which one she put it in anyway and he began to notice other things, like the one way window and he walked right over to it and looked, I thought at my reflection. Perhaps he heard Reilly in there? I don't think he could see her. I collected him for another go but after that he decided to go back to his lookout at the window. A seagull flew by which was much more interesting, and he was lost from there on and did not finish the experiment. I told him he was a GREAT dog, and I was very proud of him, frankly, just for taking the elevator. Sage went out to switch places with Reilly and hang out with Marc.
Level 6- Reilly came in and was very happy. She had better focus on this busywork, but hated having to start from the square. She looked at me as if to say, "This, Mom, is a beautiful SIT- the square doesnt matter!" and Sit is not Reilly's favorite position anyway- she'd much rather stand. So I let her stand in the square and she stuck with the program. She had an early setback when she did not want to open the lid on the box and looked at it, then me and whined. The RA swapped out the plastic cover for a laminated cardboard cover and we were good to go. Rei went all the way to the end of the experiment, so she did the second half where two men came in and placed treats and did things like: one guy placed the treats in both boxes and the other guy scratched his arm before they both stepped back directly behind a box each. Once on guy stayed facing forward and the other turned his back. Rei got a treat whichever box she picked, but they were noting her choice of box to go to in relation to the researcher close to that box. The last one an RA put a treat in a box behind a screen and then moved the box and I released her to find it.
Level 7- we went back to the observation room and the RA went to get Sage- apparently he had been whining a bit (Mom!) and went to go play with Marc in his office. He fell asleep in Marc's place but was happy to see Rei and I back in the room. The two men - who had been dressed in identical hats and scrubs and coats for the experiment came in now to love up the dogs and ask me about them, before they said thank you and goodbye. The RA and I debriefed and told me the same experiments had been done previously with monkeys, who view humans as competitors for the treats and would always choose the least confrontational box in relation to the position of the researcher and which of them touched the treat last. They decided to do this with dogs to compare with monkeys because while monkeys are related to us, dogs have been WORKING with us for thousands of years and have awareness of our cues. Dogs also (generally) are more likely to see us as a source of good things, not competitors for. Furthemore, from a practical standpoint, dogs are cheap to study- being plentiful as local pets and there is no need to feed or house them as they go right back home again when done! The project does not rate dogs' intelligence, or account for breed, nor can they tell you your dog is smarter or less smart than any other dog- its only about dogs as a SPECIES and how they compare to monkeys in relating to a human regarding the subject of a speck of food in a box.
Level 8- We took the elevator back down- Sage was wise to the elevator this time and the dropping sensation was different. He got low and seemed uncomfortable, and when we stopped to pick up more riders on the way down he pulled for the door, but we all kept him in and I think actually having all those people in the elevator was more comforting to him than being loose with room and just Rei and I. I confess I was a little worried that if he became afraid in the elevator, he might panic and direct onto Reilly and we'd have two large dogs making a scary fuss in an elevator full of people, but that didnt even come *close* to happening and I had no time to worry about it. *ding* ground floor!
We were given the last two "Canine Cognition Lab" logo printed red leashes as thank you gifts and sent on our way home. The pups were tired and hungry (Reilly less so, since she did the whole test session) and rode home fine. All in all it was an interesting thing to do on a rainy Friday afternoon, with some new positive safe exposures to the dogs' credit. Various tests have been going on since february and it is possible we could be invited back for future tests, but they need a very large sample of different dogs so it is probably unlikley.
The RA told me that anecdotally, the labs and goldens are the most motivated to work on the study because they are just so very food motivated, and the border collies seem to get in a rut and just keep picking the same side box every time. As befitting the most dominant part of his heritage, Sage has little tolerance for pointless busy work, however, and I share that opinion with him, so I am perfectly proud of him for being a free spirit and enjoying his Kai-in-the-Sky experience.
Sage thinks he might like to be up high like that again and look for longer, and he told me that Marc who he was hanging out with was actually Marc Hauser, the author of "Wild Minds" on my own bookshelf! I told him he was one lucky dog to have met so many famous dog folks: Suzanne Clothier, Emma Parsons, Alice Moon-Fanelli, and Marc Hauser. Sage just said "yeahyeah- drive home faster, dinner lives there."
Comments
What? No cool red-collar w/ logo spam?!?! lol ~
Great drawing, you should do a cartoon strip called Wryly Brindle. Ever since Calvin and Hobbes stopped, the cartoon strip world has had a stripey animal void.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04/13/for_hints_on_humans_scientists_study_dogs_thinking/
about it in the newspaper back in April, and on a lark sent in Reilly's info, thinking I didn't want to subject Sage to any unnecessary weirdness. They called me on Wednesday to bring Reilly in and as I asked logistical questions realized it was all fun and there were no other dogs involved, just people and treats in boxes. "I have another dog, too" they said Great! bring him! We need as many dogs as possibleI was ready to bail on Sage if he had a reactive event in the morning but he's been really great lately with self-control and the morning was utterly eventless, so I figured, rainy Friday afternoon? Sage is all aboard for adventure.
What I didn't know about was the elevator, I just imagined they'd put dog lab on the ground floor or in the basement to minimize dogs in a building, so I didnt even ask. I might have left Sage out if I had to guess how he'd react to an elevator rocket ride to the 10th floor.
BUT the lesson for me in this whole thing- the big lesson- turns out to be how much nobody cared about being in the elevator with my big wild-looking dogs. City people will do anything to not miss an open elevator, apparently! LOL. I'm not even sure if I had porcupines with me that they'd have waited for the next. The paradox between being prepared for the worst but still able to sincerely and confidently expect the best - and ACT like it. It seems when things go 'bad' its easy to say "You should never have tried that, what did you think was going to happen bringing a reactive dog into XYZ situation? You KNOW what he's going to do!" but I can choose some situations for him that are novel and see that the less of a big defensive deal it is, the more likely I go in confidently and odds improve of it turning out fine. And this didn't come from ME, it osmosified from everyone around me who wasn't the least bit worried- I just went with it and allowed it to infect me.
It's good that no body was worried about being in the elevator with the Brindles, and that it rubbed off on all of you.
It's nice when everybodies relaxed and calm, it definitely rubs off on everyone involved. I've noticed it a lot with Ti. AND I love your drawing, so cute
TIME Article: The Secrets Inside Your Dog's Mind
TIME Video: Canine Cognition