Click here to sign in with or
Forget Password?
Learn more
share this!
10
Twit
Share
Email
July 26, 2023
This article has been reviewed according to Science X’s editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content’s credibility:
fact-checked
peer-reviewed publication
trusted source
proofread
by Public Library of Science
In a study of children and adults, both higher age and having had a pet dog were associated with better ability to recognize dog emotions from facial expressions. Heini Törnqvist of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on July 26, 2023, showing four-year-olds were less able to recognize aggressive dog expressions than older children and adults.
Recognizing emotions from facial expressions is a key part of nonverbal communication between species. Prior research has suggested that three- to five-year-olds may be less able to recognize dogs’ emotions than older children and adults. However, more research is needed to clarify the relationships between age, prior dog experience, and the ability to recognize dog emotions.
To help deepen understanding, Törnqvist and colleagues conducted a study involving 34 adults, 28 four-year-olds and 31 six-year-olds. All participants were asked to view images on a computer screen of various dog and human faces displaying different expressions. The participants were then asked to rate each expression according to its level of happiness, anger, positivity, negativity, and amount of emotional arousal.
Overall, in line with prior research, people of all ages and prior dog experience—having had a pet dog in their family—gave roughly similar ratings of the images. Still, there were some statistical differences between the groups.
Regardless of pet dog experience, adults and six-year-olds more often recognized aggressive dog faces correctly than four-year-olds. However, four- and six-year-olds showed similar abilities in recognizing human expressions.
Compared to adult participants, children rated aggressive dog expressions as being more positive and having a lower level of arousal. Participants without pet dog experience rated aggressive dog expressions as being more positive than participants with dog experience. Compared to aggressive human expressions, aggressive dog expressions were rated by children as being more positive and having lower arousal.
These findings suggest that people’s ability to recognize dog emotions, especially aggression, may improve with age, which could arise from both more experience with dogs and maturation of brain structures involved in recognizing expressions. More research is needed to deepen these findings, which could also help inform efforts to improve the quality of interactions between children and dogs.
The authors add, “Aggressive dog expressions were especially rated incorrectly by four-year-olds, and they rated aggressive dogs as significantly more positive and lower in arousal than adults.”
More information: Törnqvist H, Höller H, Vsetecka K, Hoehl S, Kujala MV. Matters of development and experience: Evaluation of dog and human emotional expressions by children and adults, PLoS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288137 , journals.plos.org/plosone/arti … journal.pone.0288137
More information: Törnqvist H, Höller H, Vsetecka K, Hoehl S, Kujala MV. Matters of development and experience: Evaluation of dog and human emotional expressions by children and adults, PLoS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288137 , journals.plos.org/plosone/arti … journal.pone.0288137
Explore further
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Feedback to editors
21 hours ago
0
May 1, 2024
0
Apr 30, 2024
0
Apr 30, 2024
0
Apr 29, 2024
1
2 hours ago
14 hours ago
15 hours ago
15 hours ago
15 hours ago
17 hours ago
18 hours ago
18 hours ago
18 hours ago
18 hours ago
Nov 12, 2019
Jul 6, 2023
Jun 2, 2021
Feb 3, 2017
Oct 19, 2021
Mar 13, 2023
18 hours ago
19 hours ago
15 hours ago
18 hours ago
May 4, 2024
May 3, 2024
Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form. For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines).
Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request
Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.
Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.
Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient’s address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Medical Xpress in any form.
Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we’ll never share your details to third parties.
More information Privacy policy
We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X’s mission by getting a premium account.
Daily science news on research developments and the latest scientific innovations
The latest engineering, electronics and technology advances
The most comprehensive sci-tech news coverage on the web