1 This is the final version of the manuscript sent to journal for publication after acceptance. Note the final printed version might be different from this one due to the editing process. The full citation: Fugazza, C., Petró, E., Miklósi, Á., Pogány, Á. 2018. Social learning of goal-directed actions in dogs (Canis familiaris): Imitation or emulation? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 133: 244– 251. doi: 10.1037/com0000149 Title: Social learning of goal-directed actions in dogs (Canis familiaris): Imitation or emulation? Authors: Claudia Fugazza*, Eszter Petro*#, Ádám Miklósi* and Ákos Pogány* Affiliation: *Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest #Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary Author for correspondence: claudia.happydog@gmail.com Abstract A goal-directed action is composed of two main elements on which the observer may focus his attention: the movement performed (i.e. the action) and the outcome (i.e. the goal). In a social learning situation, consequently, the observer may imitate the action of the model or emulate the result of its action. In humans and primates, the tendency to selectively engage in any of these two processes is considered to be dependent upon the availability and saliency of information about the goal, implying the capacity to recognise the goals of others’ actions. Dogs are skilful in learning socially from humans and, when trained with the Do as I Do method, they imitate human actions. Here we tested trained dogs for engaging in imitation or emulation based on information about the goal. We found that dogs observing the demonstration of an object-related action in the absence of a clear goal tended to solve the task by matching the body movement of the human demonstrator. In contrast, when they could observe the exact same movement, but the goal was apparent, they attempted to solve the task by their own means, i.e. by emulation, instead of imitating the demonstrated action. These results provide experimental evidence for dogs being able to recognize the goals of others and adjust their behaviour accordingly, relying flexibly on imitation or emulation. Key words Imitation; Emulation; Dog; Goal-directed action; Social learning