Muschinski, J. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2025

Public perception of dog emotional and motivational states in videos: A cross-sectional analysis

Recognition and interpretation of dogs emotional and motivational states from visual behavioural signs are important for public safety and dog welfare. This study used an online survey to explore the ability of members of the public (n = 4,133) to recognise the underlying emotional or motivational states of dogs in silent videos (n=30). Participants scored each video for nine pre-determined emotional and motivational states on a scale from 0 to 15 and rated the relative difficulty of scoring each video. Participants could also select "I am uncertain" for individual states which translated to missing values. Public scores were compared with those of eleven dog behaviour experts. The states "nervous/anxious", "stressed", "relaxed", "comfortable", "playful", "interested/curious", "excited", and "frustrated" showed high inter-expert agreement and were used in further analysis. "Boredom" was removed due to low inter-expert agreement. Principal components and cluster analyses on both datasets were used to collapse categories into two dimensions, identify groupings and compare overall perception. Results indicate similarity in perception of underlying states between public and experts. Correlation between expert difficulty rating, and both inter-expert agreement and public accuracy, indicates that experts effectively assessed the relative difficulty of determining underlying state. Members of the public perceived playful, excited, and curious dogs as easier to interpret than anxious and stressed dogs; however, this was not reflected in how accurately they scored videos (i.e., how different a participants scores were from the expert scores) and instead was reflected by how likely a participant was to score a video in full, rather than selecting that they were "uncertain" in response to any of the listed states. Findings of this study inform human behaviour change interventions to improve public interpretation of dog emotional and motivational states.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2023

A network-based analysis of signal use during approach interactions across sexes in chacma baboons (Papio ursinus griseipes)

Greetings in primates fulfil important functions including navigation of rank, maintenance of social relationships, and potentially establishing coalition partnerships. Papio makes a particularly valuable study genus as baboons show variation in greeting, male-male cooperation, philopatry, and social system. However, baboon greeting research has largely focused on male-male interactions, with female approach behaviour neglected except in relation to friendships and grunting. Most if not all signals seen in male-male greetings are also present in approaches between other sex combinations. To understand these signals further, their use in all sex combinations should be explored. We investigated approaches between male and female adult chacma baboons (Papio ursinus griseipes), the only savannah baboon reportedly lacking male-male cooperation, recorded in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. We compared male-male greetings with those of other baboon species, identified network clusters of co-occurring signals, and compared male and female approaches more broadly. Male-male approaches were similar to those in other baboon species. We identified several predictable signal combinations, ear-flattening with lip-smacking being a particularly strong signal of benign intent across sexes. Further research comparing greeting across sex combinations and species will help disentangle links between risk, cooperation, and greeting behaviour.

animal behavior and cognition↗