Selective Imitation in Dom

j.cub.2007.04.026havior as goal directed [3–8] and, as a result, predict the most efficient action to achieve a goal within the con-straints of a given situation [9]. This inferential compe-tence does not require the attribution of mental states to others but relies simply on the evaluation of the ob-servable facts: the action, the goal state, and the situa-tional constraints [9]. One situation in which human by using their mouth. Dogs of two experimental groups, however, could observe an adult female dog that had been trained to produce food from the apparatus by using only her paw, thus using this ‘‘inefficient’ ’ action instead of applying the method preferred by dogs. In one group, she carried a ball in her mouth (mouth-occu-pied group, MO), whereas in the second group, he