Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Fall 2015 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Fall 2015 An Attachment Style Based Experimental Design to Maximize Dog Adoption Success Claire Weinman Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_f2015 Part of the Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Child Psychology Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Other Animal Sciences Commons, and the Other Psychology Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Weinman, Claire, "An Attachment Style Based Experimental Design to Maximize Dog Adoption Success" (2015). Senior Projects Fall 2015. 57. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_f2015/57 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 An Attachment Style Based Experimental Design to Maximize Dog Adoption Success Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science of Bard College by Claire Weinman Annandale-on-Hudson, New York November, 2015 2 3 For Charlie 4 5 Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................. An Attachment Style Based Experimental Design to Maximize Dog Adoption Success ..... History Of the Dog ................................................................................................................ Attachment Behavior ............................................................................................................ Attachment in Humans ..................................................................................................... Attachment in Dogs .......................................................................................................... Physiology of Attachment ..................................................................................................... Physiological Markers of Attachment ............................................................................... Hormonal Correlates of Attachment ................................................................................. Successful versus Unsuccessful Human-Dog Pairs .............................................................. Statistics Today ................................................................................................................. Adoption Programs ........................................................................................................... Compatibility .................................................................................................................... Current Study Rationale .................................................................................................... Study One.............................................................................................................................. Method .............................................................................................................................. Predicted Results ............................................................................................................... Discussion ......................................................................................................................... Rationale for Study Two ................................................................................................... 6 Study Two ............................................................................................................................. Method .............................................................................................................................. Predicted Results ............................................................................................................... Discussion ......................................................................................................................... General Discussion ............................................................................................................... References ............................................................................................................................. Footnotes ............................................................................................................................... Tables .................................................................................................................................... Figures................................................................................................................................... Appendix ............................................................................................................................... 7 Abstract Evolution and domestication have brought dogs very close to humans. Research has found numerous behavioral, cognitive, neurological, and physiological similarities between the two species. Additional research has found that humans and dogs can share cross-species attachments that are comparable to mother-infant attachments. Furthermore, attachment styles in dogs are classified the same way they are in children. The statistics on the vast amount of dogs in animal shelters, too many of which are being senselessly killed, are shocking. I propose a two-part study that first assesses which attachment style pairings are most successful and which are unsuccessful based on measurements of satisfaction and oxytocin levels reflecting attachment. The second study is designed to verify these pairings by manipulating adoptions and following pairs. If particular pairings are found more successful than others and are utilized at adoption, I hypothesize an attachment style based program would produce more successful adoptions, lower the amount of dogs returned to shelters, and eventually, lower euthanization rates. Keywords: canine, dog, cognition, behavior, physiology, evolution, adoption, human, oxytocin, shelter, euthanasia, program, satisfaction 8 9 History of the Dog Origin There are reports of dogs existing anywhere from 9,000 (Clutton-Brock, 1995) to 14 million years ago (Kaminksy and Marshal-Pescini, 2014) but their ancestors have been roaming the earth much longer. Hare and Woods (2013) as well as Thalmann et al. (2013) suggest the evolution of the wolf into the dog began between 12,000 and 40,000 years ago. Thalmann et al.’s study on the mitochondrial genomes of ancient canids suggests that dogs originated in Europe between 18,800 and 32,100 years ago. One side of the controversy, as Thalmann et al. report, is that genetic data suggests the process of domestication began in East Asia approximately 15,000 years ago, however, evidence exist that support the oldest doglike fossils dating back more than 30,000 years and being found in Europe and Siberia. Tracing the genetic history allows scientists to map the cognition, behavior, and biology of the dog back to its inception. When this method doesn’t work due to a lack of records, damaged fossils, or inconclusive evidence, genetic testing is the next best option. Most people believe dogs descended from the same wolves that roam the earth today but genetic tests show that dogs and contemporary grey wolves share a common ancestor from which they both evolved: the ancient grey wolf. Dogs and contemporary wolves are therefore both subspecies under the genus “canis” and Thalmann et al.’s (2014) study discovered that the ancient grey wolf is genetically distinguishable from the contemporary wolf. It was additionally found that genomes mark dogs as genetically closer to ancient wolves than they are to contemporary wolves although the contemporary grey wolf is the domestic dog’s closest living relative (Thalmann et al., 2013). The next question to ask is how: How did the dog evolve from the ancient grey wolf; how does any animal evolve? 10 Natural Selection versus Artificial Selection Darwin is one of the first and most popular names associated with research on evolution and his work is still important to the subject today. Very well known for his theory of evolution, Darwin argues that natural selection, while a slow process, is the best explanation for how species evolved and domesticated. He defines natural selection as the process by which animals become more fit to survive in their environments: a system of “descent with modification (Darwin, 1859, as cited in Bidau, 2009, p. 56)” where random genetic mutations occur and the beneficial ones accumulate as they pass through generations. He believed that when enough of these mutations built up a completely new and different organism would result. A good example of this would be the changes that occurred to the ancient wolf resulting in the domestic dog. Darwin also addressed that these processes take time, the same way artificial selection takes time. Artificial selection, such as domestic breeding, is controlled by a human who decides which traits they want to be passed to the generations ahead. Natural selection ebbs and flows