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Further examination of cross-modal association in canine (Canis familiaris) scent detection: Extending research on training dogs to identify multiple odours
Abstract
Dogs' superior olfactory capabilities and trainability have led to widespread use of dogs
for scent detection research and work. Previous research has largely focused on dogs' ability to
detect and discriminate single odours, however more research is needed to understand dogs’
ability to use multiple sensory modalities to identify and discriminate odours. Continuing
research started by Campbell- Smith (2024), the current study hypothesized, a) dogs are capable
of using cross-modal association to match odours to images of shapes and b) the inclusion of an
error correction procedure and physical screen border on the touch screen where the images are
presented will increase dogs responding accuracy and decrease biases towards specific shapes
and screen quadrants, previously observed by Campbell-Smith. Four dogs were trained using
shaping and chaining to engage in a conditional discrimination task using an automated scent
delivery carousel and touch screen. Challenges faced early on during the initial conditional
discrimination sessions prompted the inclusion of a simple visual discrimination task and an
errorless learning procedure. The findings were largely consistent with Campbell-Smith, in that
all dogs had above chance (50%) accuracy rates overall, but none met the mastery criteria (80%)
overall. The correction procedure and physical touch screen border did reduce overall biases in
all dogs, but did not increase responding accuracy enough to meet the mastery criteria. This
suggests that the procedures used in these experiments may not be optimal for training dogs to
accurately match odours and visual stimuli. Alternative procedures should be investigated in the
future. The current findings provide more information as to dog's cross-modal identification
capabilities, as well as further understanding of dogs’ visual capabilities and a comparison of
dogs’ accuracy on conditional discrimination with and without an errorless learning procedure.
Type
Thesis
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Date
2025
Publisher
The University of Waikato
Supervisors
Rights
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