Figurative and spatial information and search behavior in dogs (Canis familiaris)

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) were administered a variant of the delayed matching-to-sample task in which they had to recover a hidden object and in which both spatial and figurative information were kept constant at the outset of each trial. Thereafter, either spatial (i.e. spatial condition) or figurative cues (i.e. figurative condition) became relevant to solve the task. The results revealed that dogs rapidly associated a spatial cue with the recovery of the object. The discussion emphasizes the role of cognitive and ecological constraints to account for the fact that figurative information was not readily used as a cue to guide search behavior.