On the (limited) use of touchscreen-based behavioural and cognitive research with dogs: potential causes and future directions.

Dogs (Canis familiaris) are an increasingly popular model in comparative cognition research. Traditional research paradigms often rely on heavy experimenter involvement, which can introduce biases and inconsistencies. Touchscreen-based automated systems offer a solution by enhancing standardization, reducing experimenter effects, and improving data quality, and have been widely adopted for research with diverse species. However, their adoption in dog research has remained underexplored. This systematic review quantified dog behaviour and cognition literature in relation to touchscreen-based methodologies and evaluated existing touchscreen-based approaches. Our search confirmed that while the field of dog cognition continues to grow, touchscreen-based studies are exceptionally rare, with only fourteen such publications identified for the entire indexed record. We explored the potential reasons for this limited adoption by categorizing them into three main barriers: technical, such as the need for interdisciplinary skills; practical, including high costs and lengthy training requirements and Umwelt, relating to the dogs' species-specific constraints. Finally, we propose strategies to overcome these obstacles, including the use of open-source solutions, establishing multi-lab collaborations, and designing interfaces better aligned with dogs' Umwelt. We conclude that despite being underutilized, touchscreen-based methods hold significant promise for advancing canine research. By addressing current challenges through collaborative, open, and dog-centred practices, the field can integrate touchscreen-based methods more widely, enhance reproducibility, accelerate discovery, and obtain objective indicators of dogs' behavioural and cognitive capabilities.

University of Aveiro
University of Exeter
Universita degli Studi di Parma