New research shows that dogs understand nouns that refer to familiar objects
According to researchers observing dog brain activity, this animal can understand many nouns to refer to objects such as balls, slippers, chains and other common things in their lives.
New findings show that dog brains can understand more than command words like "sit" and "fetch," but also understand the meaning of nouns, at least about the things they care about, according to the paper. The Guardian March 22.3 led research at Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary.
“I think all dogs have this ability. That changes our understanding of language evolution and thinking about uniquely human characteristics,” said Marianna Boros, an expert who helped arrange the experiments.
Scientists have long been interested in whether dogs can actually learn the meaning of words. A 2022 survey found that dog owners believed they responded between 15 and 215 words.
More direct evidence of dogs' cognitive abilities came in 2011 when psychologists in South Carolina (USA) noted that after 3 years of intensive training, a Border Collie named Chaser learn the names of more than 1.000 objects, including 800 fabric toys, 116 balls, and 26 plastic plates.
However, studies tell little about what is happening in dogs' brains as they process words.
To learn more, Boros and her colleagues invited 18 dog owners to bring their pets to the lab along with five objects the animals knew well. These include balls, slippers, plastic plates, rubber toys, pencils and other items.
Owners were instructed to say words about the objects before showing their dog the correct object or a different object. For example, the owner says “look, here's the ball”, but holds up the plastic disc.
The experiments were repeated multiple times, with words that could be described as correct or incorrect, and the dog's brain activity was recorded.
The results showed that their brain activity differed between correct and incorrect descriptions. The difference is biggest when the owner talks about the item they know best.
In the magazine Current Biology, the study authors said that the above results “provide the first neurological evidence for vocabulary knowledge in animals”.
