Dogs, like humans, use mimicry to enhance social bonds.
A dog demonstrates a play bow.
Posted on 12/27/2015 12:35:34 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
This week, millions of people around the world will no doubt experience rapid mimicry-an involuntary, split-second mirroring of another person's facial expressions-as they exchange smiles over gifts, good meals and holiday traditions. This phenomenon, observed in humans and many other primates, is considered a basic building block of our ability to feel empathy.
"When your companion or friend smiles, you don't know why exactly, but you immediately react with the same smile to him or her," says Elisabetta Palagi, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Pisa in Italy.
"It’s an extremely important phenomenon, because through this mimicry you can feel the same emotion as the other person."
Now Palagi and her colleagues have found that it's not just humans and our close relatives who experience these empathy-building benefits. For the first time, they have demonstrated that dogs use rapid mimicry with other dogs to reinforce social bonds and get on the same playful wavelength.
The findings don't come as too much of a surprise to Palagi, because dogs are socially savvy in a number of other ways. For example, they share more food and show higher degrees of social behavior with dogs they are already friends with than ones that are strangers. In addition, dogs can read the facial expressions of their owners, and they get a burst of oxytocin, a hormone associated with social bonding, simply by gazing into their owner's eyes.
To see if dogs also engage in rapid mimicry, Palagi and her colleagues first identified typical play behaviors-the doggie versions of smiles and beams. One is the "relaxed open-mouth," a canine grin, and another is the "play bow," a stance romping pooches often assume that involves the front legs angled down, the back legs up and the tail wagging.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
Dogs, like humans, use mimicry to enhance social bonds.
A dog demonstrates a play bow.
Dog communication ping.
I certainlly know about the owner’s facial expression. Dogs cower when the owner has an angry look on his/her face. Dogs cooperate to please an owner who approaches them with smiles — even a stranger can use this trick.
I know the “feed me” face.
Works in human to human interactions as well, at least it has for me..........
How to recognize the moods of an Irish setter
Had one a long time ago.Really great for hunting.
They are beautiful dogs when groomed up,but
just really nothing upstairs.
Proof positive. They’re born with da ebils.
Yep.
But I love ‘em.
:)
Note: this topic is from 12/27/2015. Thanks afraidfortherepublic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
