Incentive Contrast in dogs: Or, dogs get really used to having good treats

I just read an article from a research group in Argentina that looked at dogs' reactions to Successive Negative Contrast. This fancy word basically means that if animals (usually mammals) are consistently given a very high-value treat and then suddenly switched to a lower-value treat, they get annoyed about it.

In dogs, it played out this way:  some dogs were consistently given beef liver treats by experimenters, and other dogs were given beef liver treats at first and then switched to the dog's usual meal-time kibble. The dogs that were switched to the kibble were more likely to refuse to eat this lower-value treat, and they also were less likely to engage the experimenter either by making eye contact or approaching him/her. So, the dogs flatly refused to eat food that they ordinarily ate with no complaints, all because they had become accustomed to getting a much better treat.

So, there you have it, if you try to shortchange a dog, it'll get angry. Something to keep in mind when people are training their dogs using food rewards. Make sure that the 'jackpot' treats are used only on special occasions, and also be sure that you don't start out using the Best Food Ever during training, because the result may be a less-than-cooperative dog if you have to switch to a lesser treat.

Reference
Bentosela, M., Jakovcevic, A., Elgier, A., Mustaca, A., and Papini, M., 2009.  Incentive contrast in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 123: 125-130.

What's this blog about?

I am doing PhD research into dog cognition, and this blog will give details about the latest news coming out of this field. There is some interesting and insightful work happening in this area, but many dog owners will not be very surprised with the findings.

Email me at dogresearcher@gmail.com