Joint attention biases dogs' memory towards object identity

Abstract

Ostensive communication, characterized by direct eye contact and other attention-catching signals, shapes how humans encode and remember novel objects, biasing memory toward identity-relevant features. Dogs are sensitive to human ostensive cues and follow gaze direction. However, whether these signals also enhance and modulate object encoding remains unknown. In an eye-tracking study, we tested dogs in a violation-of-expectation paradigm. A human actor directed eye contact toward the dog or looked away while looking at an object. After an occlusion, dogs viewed three outcomes: the same object (no change), the same object in a different location (location change), or a different object (identity change). We measured dogs looking times during the outcome phase within predefined areas of interest around the object. In line with our predictions and matching earlier findings with infants, dogs looked longer at identity changes in the eye-contact condition. In contrast, looking times at location and no-change outcomes were unaffected by communicative context, indicating selective enhancement of identity encoding. During the initial addressing phase, pupil dilation was greater in the eye-contact condition, indicating increased arousal or engagement. These findings demonstrate that dogs and infants exhibit a communication-induced memory bias, revealing a capacity for ostension-guided learning that facilitates information transfer.