A team of scientists discovered the ability of dogs to modify their behavior for their own benefit.
A study published in the magazine Frontiers in Psychology revealed that Dogs have more complex cognitive abilities than was believed. The investigation showed that these animals not only understand when a human can help them, but also adjust their behavior to communicate strategically and even deceive when the situation requires it.
The team of scientists, led by Marianne Heberlein, designed experiments that tested the ability of dogs to modify their behavior According to the knowledge that their owners had about the location of an award. The results suggested that animals are able to evaluate the context and act accordingly, which opens new questions about their level of social intelligence.
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The experiment that revealed that dogs know how to deceive
The investigation It was developed in two stages with the participation of 44 dogs of different races. In the first experiment, scientists hid food in a room, sometimes in the presence of the owner and sometimes without this being able to see the hiding place. The dogs showed the prize with the greatest insistence when their human had not witnessed where he hiddenwhich indicated that they adapted their communication according to the knowledge of others.
In the second phase, an additional variable was introduced: two people unknown to the dog, a cooperative that always shared the food and another competitive that was left. The animals not only pointed out the hiding place more frequently to the collaborative person, but, in some cases, they deliberately indicated an empty place to the selfish person. This behavior showed that dogs not only recognize who can help thembut they are also able to modify their behavior to prevent others from benefiting.
The researchers stated that this ability to deceive could be related to a primitive form of aversion to injustice. By preventing the competitive person from finding the food, Dogs did not obtain a direct benefit, but they did prevent the other from favoringwhich suggests a more elaborate level of reasoning.
Although the study did not determine whether all races act in the same way, previous investigations indicated that the dogs raised to work as a team with humans, such as farmers or shepherds, show greater tendency to this type of strategic communication. This suggests that artificial selection throughout history could have favored the development of more sophisticated social skills in certain races.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
