The scientific world has once again surprised us with its discoveries about the extraordinary intelligence of animals. A recent study of 27 pet dogs and their owners has shown that these four-legged friends can understand more than we can imagine.
Recently, scientists conducted a study and found that pets experience surprise. And this indicates that animals can form mental concepts, writes Science New.
Ellen Lau, a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland, explains, "Anyone who's ever spent a lot of time with a dog probably won't be surprised to learn that they understand that your language refers to at least a few common objects."
But some people may assume that such "understanding" is a simple, almost reflexive reaction to the sound of a word. Still, Lau adds, "It's always nice to see evidence like this that disproves that assumption."
The researchers, led by Marianna Boros of the Etves Lorand University in Budapest, focused on average dogs. 27 pet dogs and their owners took part in the experiment.
Boros and her colleagues asked owners to bring five familiar toys into the lab. There, the team attached electrodes to the dogs' heads and asked them to do only two things: lie on a comfortable mat and stay awake.
From time to time, the dogs heard a recording of their master's voice saying: "Charlie, look at the ball!". The person the dogs were talking to was on the other side of the wall with the window. This electronic window could instantly change from opaque to translucent, allowing the dog to see through it. Immediately after the soundtrack, the host appeared in the window holding a toy. Sometimes it was a ball, but sometimes it was another toy, for example, a rope.
The researchers monitored the dogs' brain activity using electrodes. They found that when the dogs saw an unexpected toy, such as a rope instead of a ball, their brains showed a significant surprise signal. This suggests that the dogs formed a mental expectation based on the words they heard.
The startle signal, known as the N400 effect, is familiar to humans but has not previously been observed in dogs. Boros notes that while this was not entirely unexpected, it provides new insight into how animals perceive language. Previous research has hinted that dogs understand words, but this offers a deeper understanding of their cognitive abilities.
"We can say that they know words at the level of passive perception," says the researcher. "They understand more than they show."
