References

Gosling, S.D., Kwan, V.S.Y., & John, O.P. (2003). A dog’s got personality: A cross-species

comparative approach to personality judgments in dogs and humans. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 85(6), 1161-1169.

As I was reading this article, I was pleased (both as a dog-lover and a future research scientist) that the study supports valid, measurable personality traits in dogs with statistical significance in each phase of the study. Personally, however, one of the most interesting aspects of this study is the actual implementation and explanation of validity techniques that have been discussed in class. It’s clear from this article that assessing measurement validity is quite an art, and the careful use of statistical correlations can really serve a great purpose. Based on my limited knowledge, I agreed with the authors’ methods and conclusions, and I find their proposed future directions of study to be legitimately broad. Once a test has been deemed valid, many doors for future research are opened.

To test internal consistency, seventy-eight dog-owners rated both their own personalities and the personalities of their dogs using the Big Five Inventory (BFI), a standard test in personality research. Peers of the owners who were familiar with both the owners and the dogs also submitted a BFI for each, and statistical tests for internal consistency were computed across all four types of assessment. Correlations were very high, showing a substantial internal consistency in the measurements for both humans and their canine counterparts. To test consensus, simple correlations were computed between the owners’ ratings and peer informants’ ratings. Correlations were statistically significant for both human and canine species, suggesting a high consensus. Concerning correspondence, correlations were computed between owners’ personality ratings and the actual canine behaviors that were recorded in a field-test situation. Correlations were small but significant, again suggesting high correspondence. Tests were also conducted to successfully rule out any bias in ratings due to stereotypes about the personalities of certain breeds or ages of dogs.

Measuring Personalities in Dogs: A Literature Review

In their study, Gosling, Kwan, and John (2003) proposed a systematic experiment to examine how accurately scientists can measure personalities and personality differences in non-human species (specifically, domesticated dogs). According to Gosling and his colleagues, other studies have supported the four-dimensional model of personality as a guide for measuring personality traits in dogs, which includes energy, affection, emotional reactivity, and intelligence. However, can these traits be assessed as accurately as they are in humans? To answer this question, Gosling, et al. created an experiment around three criteria for measuring assessment validity: internal consistency (the degree to which test items in a single measure consistently measure the same thing), consensus (general agreement between observer sources), and correspondence (the extent to which observer-responses predict actual behavior).