2023-07-18 23:09:21
Cognitive scientists in Vienna report that if strange things happen in front of their snouts, dogs obviously find this strange, just like human babies do. Then the pupils of the four-legged friends widen, they look longer out of amazement than at physically explainable processes, and then inspect the scene. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The scientists led by Christoph Völter and Ludwig Huber from the Messerli Research Institute at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna played animated videos of balls to domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), some of which disappeared behind objects that were smaller than the balls themselves, and which sometimes involuntarily reappeared after their disappearance . In another experiment, they even showed the animals such “magic tricks” on a mini stage.
While viewing unrealistic scenarios, the dogs widened their eyes and focused their gaze on the processes longer than they did during realistic processes. Even after performances on the mini stage with implausible ball disappearance and reappearance, they inspected it longer than in physically comprehensible processes.
Researchers had observed similar surprised reactions in human babies in previous studies. Dogs and small children both have “acquired knowledge about causal relationships,” according to the Viennese scientists in the specialist publication.
(S E R V I C E – Internet – https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0696)
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