title: Do you see what I see? Can non-experts with minimal training reproduce expert ratings in behavioral assessments of working dogs?
abstract: Working-dog organizations often use behavioral ratings by experts to evaluate a dog's likelihood of success. However, these experts are frequently under severe time constraints. One way to alleviate the pressure on limited organizational resources would be to use non-experts to assess dog behavior. Here, in populations of military working dogs (Study 1) and explosive-detection dogs (Study 2), we evaluated the reliability and validity of behavioral ratings assessed by minimally trained non-experts from videotapes. Analyses yielded evidence for generally good levels of inter-observer reliability and criterion validity (indexed by convergence between the non-expert ratings and ratings made previously by experts). We found some variation across items in Study 2 such that reliability and validity was significantly lower for three out of the 18 items, and one item had reliability and validity estimates that were impacted heavily by the behavioral test environment. There were no differences in reliability and validity based on the age of the dog. Overall the results suggest that ratings made by minimally trained non-experts for most items can serve as a viable alternative to expert ratings freeing limited resources of highly trained staff. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Canine Behavior.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Psychology, 108 E. Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712, USA. Electronic address: fratkijl@utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Jamie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fratkin
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Psychology, 108 E. Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712, USA; University of Tasmania, School of Zoology, Private Bag 5, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Sinn
authors.affiliation: Transportation Security Administration Canine Breeding and Development Center, 341 TRS/TSA Puppy Program, 1320 Truemper Street, Bldg 9122 Suite 2 Room 2701, Lackland AFB, TX 78236, USA.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Defense Military Working Dog Breeding Program, 341 TRS, 9225 Truemper Street, Bldg 9225, Lackland AFB, TX 78236, USA.
authors.forename: Stewart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hilliard
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Psychology, 108 E. Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Zezelia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Psychology, 108 E. Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Samuel D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Gosling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001076:Aptitude; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014937:Work
keywords: Behavior assessment; Dog; Dog experience; Reliability; Validity