Posted on 11/28/2007 7:54:46 PM PST by blam
Dogs display aspects of human intelligence
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 6:01pm GMT 28/11/2007
Dog lovers have long claimed that their pets are smarter than many of us realise.
New evidence to back that view comes from research published today which concludes that, like us, our canine friends are able to form abstract concepts.
Friederike Range and colleagues from the University of Vienna, Austria, show for the first time that dogs are able to learn how to classify complex colour photographs and place them into categories in the same way that humans do.
Training stimuli: Images of dogs and landscapes are used to test dogs' recognition of abstract concepts
"Dogs were for a long time considered to be just pets - so showing that they are able to also form abstract concepts maybe gives their cognitive abilities more credit," she said.
However, the abstract concept they were able to grasp in this pioneering experiment was rather familiar, that of "dog."
The team reports in the journal Animal Cognition a clever way to show that the dogs are not picking up subtle signals from their handlers: the dogs successfully demonstrate their learning through the use of computer touch-screens, eliminating potential human influences.
Four dogs were shown both landscape and dog photographs simultaneously and were rewarded with food if they selected the dog picture on the touch screen.
Then they were shown a new set of dog and landscape pictures. They continued to reliably select the dog photographs, demonstrating that they could transfer their knowledge gained in the training phase to a new circumstance, even though they had never seen those particular pictures before.
In a second test, the dogs were faced with a choice between a new dog pasted on a familiar landscape and a completely new landscape with no dog, In this case, they reliably selected the landscape with the dog.
"These results show that the dogs were able to form a concept, that is 'dog', although the experiment cannot tell us whether they recognized the dog pictures as actual dogs," said Dr Range.
"Using touch-screen computers with dogs opens up a whole world of possibilities on how to test the cognitive abilities of dogs."
The dogs that took part were a Border Collie (Maggie), one Border Collie mix (Lucy), one Australian Shepherd (Bertl), and one mongrel (Todor). Two dogs were male (Bertl, Todor), two were female (Maggie, Lucy).
In earlier work, the team showed striking similarities between humans and dogs in the way they imitate others, showing they do more than copy. They also interpet what they see.
Now I know why I have always liked you, Blam — you’re a fellow dog lover!
The 1st thing they do is experiment for food allergies (although they’re only about 10% of allergic pets).
Tara has been strictly vegetarian for about 4 years. ;-)
The conventional wisdom I have heard is that the Labs with the white on their chests are the best hunters.
My little high-bred Ruby has a two-hair-wide stripe about three inches long down the middle of her chest. And a white chin. My chocolate Shelley has "Bolo pads" - the little white spots behind the main paw pad - but she is going prematurely gray at age 6 so they're disappearing in the general 'silver hairs among the chocolate'.
My cuties:
"Who you lookin' at?"
Scratch that theory...
Years ago I had a cocker that was allergic to everything including air...Only a slight exaggeration...She lived on prednisone.
There is nothing like a lab...Your girls are beautiful.If you ever need a baby sitter I’m volunteering.
I always enjoy pics of your girls..At rest, in motion, hunting...They are stunning ‘lookers’..and primo athletes..
Re: Balance..Solitare the one with the white...Has taught herself superb balance through the squirrel chase in the back yard...She stands upright and jumps..I have caught her several times supervising my cooking..She rises up like a black ghost and just stands to watch..She is as tall as I am.
The more people I meet, the more I love my dog.
I don't know if I'd want to have my cooking supervised . . . mine are tiny compared to Solitaire, around 20" at the shoulder; both weigh about 45 pounds. Ruby will probably top out at 50 or so once she gets her full growth.
Thanks for the kind words! I do love my girls, and they are wonderful to watch in action. Labs are happiest when they are busy!
My dog does that too — wish I could teach her to swim. ;-)
I have a cattle dog (blue heeler), too! My 2nd (lost the 1st to cancer; devastating loss) is only 2.5 years old, amazingly intelligent, a total athlete, nice to my cats and gentle with children and babies, and - born to cuddle! I am so blessed to have a friend like this.
Awwwww, so totally cute! Love her ears, especially.
That is great. Any pics. My blue heeler loved to be cuddled and was the most gentle dog in the world unless it came to protection which I might add he only used when absolutely necessary maybe about once in his life. I miss him and my others so much. They were great. I know it’s difficult to lose one. They are so special.
My cattle dog is so smart it almost scares me. Very trainable except hard headed. The problem is you have to sometimes be careful as she will figure out what you are doing and forget it. But she can turn on a dime and is fast; except for my pharoah hound who is a sight hound and is really fast.
GSDs love those tennis balls. Have a 2 shilohs that carry theirs not necessarily tennis; 24/7. The other one could care less. Finding the right spot on her chair is what counts. LOL
Does your GSD talk to you? I swear they do.
What beautiful babies. I know they love you and you them and how proud you are.
I just love your babies.
They are happy; aren’t they?
I have seen a lot of them at dog shows and training classes. I have never seen a dumb one???
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