When you learn to sit or give a paw you think your dog is the smartest (and most cute!). But most dogs can only choose a limited number of words in their lives, and a new study can help explain why.
Studies have shown that the dog’s brain cannot distinguish words that differ from a single speech sound, such as “dig” vs. “dog,” or “sit” vs. “set.” This makes the dogs equal Human infants, Which can’t even distinguish between words with similar sounds. But by the age of about 14 to 20 months, babies usually begin to learn that each sound of the word (i.e. “dog” and “dig” are different words), and this allows them to increase their vocabulary, the authors said. Was.
It seems that dogs never understand these differences. “A study by Attilaks Ndiks, a senior author in the Department of Ethnology at Atvas Lorend University in Hungary,” said dogs, who do not participate in all the details of the voice when they hear the words. ” Said in a statement. “Further research may reveal whether this may be one of the reasons why dogs are unable to acquire vast vocabulary.”
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For the study, published in the journal Tuesday (December 8) Royal Society Open Science, Monitored by researchers Brain waves 17 very good dogs using a technique called electroencephalography (EEG). The first study to use EEG on awakened dogs that have no specific training. The dogs visited the lab with their owners, and once the dogs got used to the new environment, they sat down on the mattress with their owners, and the researchers attached electrodes to the dog’s head with tape.
Then, dogs pre-record words they know (e.g. “sit”), as well as seemingly absurd words (e.g. “suit”) and very different seeming absurd words (eg. ” Bep “) heard.
The dog’s brain can distinguish words that sound very different from the nonsense they knew (“sit” vs. “beep”). But in their minds they make no distinction between the words they knew and the absurd words that are distinguished by a single speech sound (“sit” vs. “suit”). Researchers have seen a similar pattern in children younger than 14 months.
It’s not that dogs can’t hear different sounds – studies have shown that dogs can distinguish individual speech sounds (such as “D,” “O” and “G”). But they may have a “focus and processing bias” that prevents them from participating in all voices in one voice, they said.
Further studies with a large number of participants and further tests of words are needed to confirm the findings, they said.
Published on Original Living Science.
