A schematic representation of predictions.

Closed boxes refer to episodes where either F (familiar person) or S (stranger) was present in the room in the FS (familiar stranger) treatment or S_A (stranger A) or S_B (stranger B) was present in the room in the SS (stranger stranger) treatment. The arrows indicate the comparisons that were made. According to our hypothesis, if the ASSP is a reliable method to use when assessing the bond between dogs and humans, dogs should explore (EXP) and play (PLAY) more in the presence of the familiar person and they should show more proximity seeking behaviours (PROX) towards the familiar person.