Persistence according to life experience

[HAH]

Here’s a new paper I’ve come across that shows free roaming dogs are less persistent with new object than pet dogs and captive dogs: The role of life experience in affecting persistence: A comparative study between free-ranging dogs, pet dogs and captive pack dogs
The theory is that increased human-dog interactions with the latter groups makes them more willing to investigate new objects, whereas free roaming dogs are more cautious of novelty. So not so much about persistence as willingness to investigate new things...

 

[Beanwood]

Hmmm... interesting theory, however for me there were too many confounding factors in the study to support this construct. Namely motivational factors and environment especially for free-roaming dogs vs. pet dogs. The study does make reference to this fact. For example, if a dog doesn't need to be persistent, then surely it won't bother? If experience has predicted easier access to food by going to area a/b/c. (referring to free- roaming packs) There was a methodology employed to factor in the bias of fear of new things, but not sure if this was consistent over all three groups.