How To Tell If Your Dog Is A Genius

Young children learn new words very fast. ‎Can dogs do that too?‎ New research shows how exceptionally talented dogs can learn the names of objects after hearing them only four times.

However, they were only able to learn the new words when they heard them in a social context while playing with their owners. The study also found that the dogs' memory of the new words rapidly decayed ‎ after 10 minutes.

Check out this link for the full study:

How To Tell If Your Dog Is A Genius - The Article

Written by Jan Hoole


 Get The Latest By Email

Weekly Magazine Daily Inspiration

Anyone who has lived with a dog will know their capacity for learning the meaning of words, even ones you don’t want them to know. How many times have you had to spell the words “walk” or “dinner” in the hope of avoiding an explosion of excitement?

Previous studies have investigated how non-human animals, including chimpanzees, sea lions and rhesus monkeys, learn words. But now a paper published in Nature shows some dogs learn the name of a new object after hearing it only four times, an ability previously thought to be confined to humans.

The researchers found this ability was not common among all the dogs studied, instead it may be limited to a few “talented” or highly trained individuals. So how can you tell whether your own dog is a genius or not?

Read the article

About The Author

Jan Hoole, Lecturer in Biology, Keele University

I came to Keele University in 1992 as a PhD student and have been here ever since. My first degree, BSc (Hons), was in Science and the Environment from Leicester Polytechnic. After completing my PhD on the molecular conservation of endangered insects, I began teaching part-time at Keele, while carrying out post-doctoral research on the effects of the tapeworm Ligula on the gonads of infected roach. I continued to teach part-time while running Ashley Pet Behaviour Centre and practicing as a Pet Behaviour Counsellor. In 2008 I closed the Pet Behaviour Centre and returned to take on a greater role at Keele, being appointed as a lecturer, still working part-time.

My particular fields of interest are animal behaviour and human evolution. I have helped to set up, and now manage, a final year module on Human Evolution, and I am still pressing to have more animal behaviour included in the curriculum. In addition I have forged links with various local zoos and each year run a variety of final year undergraduate projects looking at the behaviour of captive animals. I also help to organise open and visit days, and take part in many outreach activities.

And in 2015 I took up the role of Programme Director for Biology. In this capacity I am at present helping to steer the new Single Honours Biology programme through its validation stages. In 2015 I also gained Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

books_pets

More By This Author

AVAILABLE LANGUAGES

English Afrikaans Arabic Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Danish Dutch Filipino Finnish French German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Indonesian Italian Japanese Korean Malay Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish Swahili Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese

follow InnerSelf on

facebook icontwitter iconyoutube iconinstagram iconpintrest iconrss icon

 Get The Latest By Email

Weekly Magazine Daily Inspiration

Saturday, 01 May 2021 08:12

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts have become popular in recent years for a number of reasons. They don’t require as much time as a regular workout (some can take as little as 10...

Tuesday, 25 July 2023 17:28

Certain foods or dietary patterns are linked with better control of your asthma. Others may make it worse. Depending on what you’ve eaten, you can see the effects in hours.

Tuesday, 04 May 2021 08:32

Cognitive motor training helps in the fight against Alzheimer’s and dementia, according to new research.

Wednesday, 21 April 2021 07:23

Whether it’s your arthritic relative who knows rain is on the way when their knees ache or your lifelong pal who gets a headache when a storm is approaching, we all know somebody who claims they...

Friday, 02 April 2021 08:02

  Microdosing has become something of a wellness trend in recent years. The practice involves taking a low dose of a psychedelic drug to enhance performance, or reduce stress and anxiety.

Tuesday, 25 July 2023 16:09

Volunteering in late life may be more than just a noble act of giving back to the community; it could be a critical factor in safeguarding the brain against cognitive decline and dementia.

New Attitudes - New Possibilities

InnerSelf.comClimateImpactNews.com | InnerPower.net
MightyNatural.com | WholisticPolitics.com | InnerSelf Market
Copyright ©1985 - 2021 InnerSelf Publications. All Rights Reserved.