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Exploring cross-modal association in canine (canis familiaris) scent detection: A framework for training dogs to identify multiple odours

Abstract
Dog’s olfaction abilities and trainability have made them valuable companions in scent detection tasks for centuries. While research has focused on dogs detecting single odours, there is a gap in understanding if they can emit different responses to different odours. Based on the principles of stimulus control and existing evidence of dogs’ ability to learn to perform similar tasks, it was hypothesised that dogs, using cross-modal association through olfaction and vision modalities, can match odours to corresponding shapes. Using an automated scent delivery apparatus, four dogs were trained using operant conditioning procedures to discriminate between two odours and select a corresponding shape. One dog met the mastery criteria and progressed to three odours. It was found that dogs were able to discriminate between odours at greater accuracy than chance, confirming our hypothesis. Yet, all dogs did display a bias towards one of the four touchscreen quadrants. The findings were similar to those observed in other studies involving different animal species, but the accuracy rates observed in this study were lower than those reported in other similar studies. These findings have implications for tasks the detection of multiple scents and further the understanding of dogs’ abilities to perform cross-modal discrimination tasks. This study established a methodological framework for cross-modal scent discrimination tasks but there are several improvements to the methods that might enhance dogs’ performance in future research.
Type
Thesis
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Date
2024-04-19
Publisher
The University of Waikato
Supervisors
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