Dogs understand the names of some objects with which they interact – research
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Dogs understand the names of some objects with which they interact – research
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Scientists claim that dogs understand not only commands like “sit” or “fetch”, but are also able to recognize nouns. In any case, this applies to the objects with which they interact.
This is stated in a study by Hungarian scientists, published in the scientific journal Current Biology, informs The Guardian,
18 dogs participated in the experiment conducted by scientists. They were with their owners. They took to the laboratory five objects that the animals knew well – balls, slippers, frisbees, rubber toys, leashes, etc.
Owners would say the names of the objects and then show the dog the correct or incorrect object. For example, the owner could say: “Look, the ball”, but show the frisbee. This was repeated several times with different subjects.
During this, the researchers monitored the dogs’ brain activity using non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG). They found different patterns of activity when the items matched and did not match the words. The difference was more pronounced for words that owners thought their dogs knew better.
Similar spikes in EEG recordings were also observed when people performed a similar test.
The scientists noted that their results “provide the first neural evidence that animals are able to understand words.”
“I think all dogs have this ability. It changes our understanding of language evolution and our understanding of what is uniquely human.” – noted the co-author of the study Marianna Boros.
However, according to her, scientists are reluctant to claim that dogs understand words as well as humans.
Further research is needed to understand whether dogs can generalize and understand that the word “ball” does not necessarily refer to one specific object.
We will remind, scientists installedthat interacting with dogs can benefit a person’s emotional health – it enhances brain waves associated with rest and relaxation.
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