A study has shown that dogs have a certain talent for languages that had only been associated with people before. Their skills for the recognition of human speech are far more complex than we have been aware of so far.
The researchers claim that dogs and humans share what they call “language talent”. The results of their study prove that dogs can not only recognize words but also different people’s voices. The study was carried out by scientists from the University of Sussex and published in Biology Letters.
The aim of the research was to find out if dogs can instinctively recognize the same word said by different people. More specifically, if they can recognize the same phonemes said by different people, no matter their accent and pronunciation.
For the sake of the study to be objective, the studied dogs didn’t know any of the people – the speakers. This prevented them from having an undesired reaction to a familiar person which might distort the results. Neither were the dogs motivated by treats or attention for the same reason.
They were recorded when reacting to the recordings of men’s and women’s voices saying words with similar sounds (e.g. had, hid, heard, heed). The words used for the study were carefully picked so they would not be related in any way to the typical commands. Therefore, the dogs couldn’t have any reaction to them because of their training.
According to the study, the dogs were able to recognize the same word said by different speakers as well as the speakers themselves on the basis of the sound of their voices. Until then, the ability to recognize vowel sounds said by different people had been considered to be an ability only humans have. It is crucial for the ability to speak. Without this, we wouldn’t be able to recognize the same word said by different people.
The research has shown that despite previous assumptions, this spontaneous ability is not exclusive to humans. Therefore, dogs share a kind of “language talent” with us which implies that the speech perception might not be a special thing only humans can do as we used to think.
We may not feel so weird when speaking to our dog companion as an equal speaker at home after this. The dog might understand us better than we could ever imagine. However, we still don’t have to pay attention to what we tell them – as of now at least. :)
According to the data published at the end of last year, more than half of the people from around the world lives with at least one pet. The most numerous dog population is in the United States (70 million dogs), followed by Brazil (36 million) and...
When I travel, I'm always interested in what is the view of the given country upon the keeping of pets. And generally, how animals are treated there. The position of cats, dogs and rodents varies significantly in different countries, so there’s...
People often confuse the grey wolf with the Czechoslovakian Wolfdog. This shepherd’s and today a very popular breed was bred from the German Shepherd by crossbreeding with the Carpathian wolf. Even though the dog and the wolf are very similar in...
The golden hamster, sometimes referred to as hamster-teddy bear because of its appearance, was first captured less than a century ago by zoologists in Syria. Hence also its second name – the Syrian hamster. Over time, it became a popular pet throughout...
The cloning of dogs or cats is slowly becoming a completely normal reality. For now, you can encounter it mostly in Asian countries. It’s the companies in South Korea that are most famous for their business plans focusing on the grieving dog and cat...
It would probably entirely unnecessary to describe the appearance of the German Shepherd. Probably everyone, even non-dog-lovers, have seen the German series Inspector Rex. Apart from the most famous colouring with black or golden marks, it is bred...
Getting a cat doesn’t mean only buying a cat toilet, bowls, a bed and a couple of toys. You also have to realise that the animal will also need certain care and count with this already before getting it. Each breed has its own specifics. While some are...
The Persian Longhairs, which have most likely descended from the Turkish Angoras, were bred in England at the end of the 19th century. Since then, they have undergone great changes, and today they have a much more compact body in comparison to the...
The desire for your own dog friend can also lead to a great disappointment. Since a lot of people fall for scammers when buying through an ad. Getting a dog this way is a risk not only from the money point of view, but also with respect to the mental...
Traveling with a dog in the city is stressful for many dog owners. One of the reasons may be the fear of riding escalators. If the dog is not accustomed to them since young age, he can have issue with it as an adult. Even in the case that your dog aces...
For the majority of dog breeders, winter is the period that has to be waited out somehow. But this time of year provides ideal conditions for the musher sport. And if you found pleasure in summer trainings with the dog, don’t hang the dog harness on an...
Most owners consider pets kept at home to be full-fledged family members. And year after year, they invest more and more money in them. Just for dog and cat food, Czechs spend around eight billion crowns a year. The business around pets is experiencing...
