The Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Group at the University of Lincoln focuses on a wide area of research with dogs, including but not limited to, scent studies, expression of personality traits and behavioural and cognitive developments.
Our studies are listed below, with links to access the full paper.
Preliminary study comparing dogs’ responses to travel in electric cars, 2024
Authors: Claire Ricci-Bonot, Ana Maria Barcelos, Ellenor Davies, Kitty Phillips, Joseph Pinto Arackal, Honour Smith, Adele Spain and Daniel S. Mills
Summary: This study aimed to undertake a preliminary examination using a mixed methods approach to identify potential issues worthy of further investigation by comparing a dog’s behavioural and physiological (heart rate) responses when travelling in Electric vehicles versus ones with internal combustion engines.
The impact of auditory distraction on learning and task performance in working dogs, 2023
Authors: Elizabeth Sheldon, Carla Hart, Daniel Mills, Carl Soulsbury, Rebecca Sumner, Anna Wilkinson
Summary: This study investigated how training with an acoustic distractor impacts dogs’ capacity to learn and later perform a task in the presence of novel distractors.
The Canine Frustration Questionnaire – Development of a new psychometric tool for measuring frustration in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), 2019
Authors: Kevin McPeake, Lisa Collins, Helen Zulch and Daniel Mills
Summary: This study looked at the development of a new screen to assess frustration in domestic dogs.
Truth is in the eye of the beholder: Perception of the Müller-Lyer illusion in dogs, 2018
Authors: Benjamin Keep, Helen Zulch and Anna Wilkinson
Summary: Visual illusions are used to study visual perception in humans and nonhuman animals, since they provide insight into the psychological and cognitive processes underlying the perceptual system. This study looked at whether dogs were able to learn a relational discrimination and perceive the Müller-Lyer illusion.
Animals can assign novel odours to a known category, 2017
Authors:
Summary: This study looked at categorisation in the olfactory domain in dogs.
Differences in trait impulsivity indicate diversification of dog breeds into working and show lines, 2016
Authors: Fernanda Ruiz Fadel, Patricia Driscoll, Malgorzata Pilot, Hannah Wright, Helen Zulch and
Daniel Mills
Summary: This project used the Dog Impulsivity Assessment Scale (DIAS) and Positive and Negative Activation Scale (PANAS) to investigate variation in behavioural tendencies within and between dog breeds.
Word Generalisation by a Dog: Is shape important?, 2012
Authors: Emile van der Zee, Helen Zulch and Daniel Mill
Summary: This study investigated how dogs associate words with objects.
Behavioural and Physiological correlates of impulsivity in the domestic dog (Canis Familiaria), 2012
Authors: Hannah Wright, Daniel Mills and Petra Pollux
Summary: This project used a behavioural test as well as the DIAS scale to measure impulsivity in different pedigree dog breeds.
Development and validation of a psychometric tool for assessing impulsivity in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris), 2011
Authors: Hannah Wright, Daniel Mills and Petra Pollux
Summary: This project looked at developing a valid psychometric assessment tool of impulsivity in dogs, resulting in the development of the Dog Impulsivity Assessment Scale (DIAS).
The Development of a Psychometric Scale for the Evaluation of the Emotional Predispositions of Pet Dogs, 2002
Authors: Gill Sheppard and Daniel Mills
Summary: This study highlights the development of a clinical tool that uses owner report to measure individual differences in positive and negative activation in pet dogs is described.