The question of whether dogs truly understand what we say, rather than just our tone and context, has puzzled owners for a long time, and so far science hasn't provided clear answers.
A recent study published in Current Biology suggests that hearing the names of their favorite toys triggers dogs' memories of the associated objects.
Lilla Magyari, co-author from Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, explained the motivation behind the research using the example of a 'ball' to illustrate that it's not obvious that dogs would understand what the word means.
Except for a few well-known cases, dogs have performed poorly on lab tests requiring them to fetch objects after hearing their names, leading many experts to argue that it's not the words themselves but how and when we say them that captures our dogs' interest.
Calling out 'Go get the stick!' and having a dog bring the object back successfully doesn't conclusively demonstrate that they understand the word 'stick'.
Even scientists who acknowledge that dogs do pay attention to our speech have suggested that, instead of understanding the actual meaning of words — a uniquely human trait — they are responding to specific sounds based on learned behavior.
– Brain waves –
In the new study, Magyari and colleagues used a non-invasive brain imaging technique on 18 dogs at their lab in Budapest.
The test involved attaching electrodes to the dogs' heads to monitor their brain activity. The owners spoke words for the dogs' most familiar toys, such as 'Kun-kun, look, the ball!', and then presented the dogs with either the corresponding object or a non-matching object.
After analyzing the recordings, the team identified distinct brain patterns when the dogs were shown matching versus non-matching objects.
This experimental setup, widely used in humans including babies for decades, is considered evidence of 'semantic processing' or understanding meaning.
The test also had the advantage of not requiring the dogs to fetch something to demonstrate their knowledge.
“We found the effect in 14 dogs, which shows the effect that we see on a group level is not only driven by a few exceptional dogs,” co-author Marianna Boros told AFP.
– Case closed? –
Holly Root-Gutteridge, a dog behavior scientist at the University of Lincoln in England, who wasn't involved in the research, told AFP that the ability to fetch specific toys by name had previously been considered a 'genius' quality.
She mentioned the well-known border collies Chaser, who had the largest tested non-human animal memory, and Rico, the first dog found in tests to retrieve toys by their names.
Root-Gutteridge stated that the new study 'shows that a variety of dogs are learning the names of objects in terms of brain response even if they don't demonstrate it behaviorally,' and added that it was 'another blow to humanity's special and distinct qualities'.
The paper 'provides further evidence that dogs might understand human vocalizations much better than we usually give them credit for,' said Federico Rossano, a cognitive scientist at UC San Diego.
But not all specialists were equally excited.
Clive Wynne, a dog behavior expert at Arizona State University, told AFP that he was “split” on the findings.
“I believe the paper falters when it tries to make the overarching claim that they have shown what they refer to as ‘semantic understanding,'” he said, but he praised the “clever” experimental setup as a new way to test the full extent of dogs’ “functional vocabulary.”
For instance, Wynne mentioned that he has to spell out the word “w-a-l-k” when he’s in front of his dog so that his pet doesn’t get too excited for a walk, but he doesn’t need to take the same precautions in front of his wife, whose understanding of the word goes beyond simple association.
“Would Pavlov be surprised by these results?” Wynne asked, referring to the well-known Russian scientist who demonstrated that dogs could be conditioned to salivate when they heard a bell signaling meal time. “I don’t think he would be.”
AFP
