It seems that dogs understand both words and tonality, proving their smarter than we initially thought.
According to a new Hungarian study, dogs understand both words and tonality when their owners or trainers are speaking to them. This means that the pets are far more intelligent than we initially thought, proving that human communication is not that complex, or unique.
Sometimes dogs give out the feeling that they are not being fooled by their owners when they say mean things with a tone of appraisal, or vice-versa when they try to seem angry, but they’re only saying that they can’t be upset with such a big ball of fluff.
Dogs Are Smarter Than They Appear
It seems that the knowledgeable look that the pets tend to adopt when being talked to is, in fact, proof that they understand what their owner is muttering.
Attila Andics led a team of researchers from the Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary. The researchers selected a sample of thirteen dogs from breeds that are known for their intelligence like Golden Retrievers, Border Collies, and German Shepherds. The age of the participants ranged from one to twelve years.
During the experiment, the canines were hooked up to an fMRI machine while the scientists played a different recording of their trainer. Some were positive messages spoken in a positive tone, some were negative words uttered in a positive way, and other such combinations.
For example, the trainer was invited to say things like “bad dog” in a praising tone, and “well done” in both neutral and negative tonalities. The recordings also featured neutral words like “yet” or “if” spoken in a positive or negative manner.
The results showed that dogs understand both words and tonality, different areas of the brain lighting up when they were played the recordings.
From what the scientists gathered, when a dog is spoken to, the words and the tonality of the speaker are analyzed in different brain areas and then the results are merged. That is why the dogs seem to look confused when they were told they were a “good dog” in a peevish tone.
Scientists believe that these findings are important because they show that the ability to speak and comprehend language is not individual to humans. It’s also substantial proof that humans did not develop their complex communication skills, but rather adapted them.
Image source: Public Domain Pictures
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