Nature & Environment
Dogs Are Less Prone To Follow Useless Advice Compared To Children: Research
Alex Davis
First Posted: Oct 17, 2016 05:05 AM EDT
Dogs are famously known as man's best friend. They are usually kept and loved as pets and members of the family. Sometimes, humans train them to guard the house, do tricks from as simple as sitting to as complex as bomb sniffing and a whole lot more. Currently, a new study found that unlike children, dogs do not follow useless advice.
A team of researchers from the Yale University conducted an experiment with the help of 40 dogs. The experts found that compared to children, dogs only copy a human action if it is beneficial in getting what they want.
Director of the Canine Cognition Center at Yale and the study's senior author, Laurie Santos, said that "[c]hildren tend to copy all of a teacher's actions, regardless of whether they are necessary or not. Humans often fall prey to the bad advice of others," as reported by Health.com.
To get the results, the researchers use dog treats to test the dogs. They put the treats inside a box and lifting the lid is the only basic thing to do in getting the treat. The experts then show the dogs that the other way to open the box is to pull the lever at the side of the box. The dogs eventually figure out that the lever is irrelevant in getting their treats so they stop using the lever instead they just lift the lid.
Laurie Santos shared that "[d]ogs are surprisingly human-like in their ability to learn from social cues, such as pointing, so we were surprised to find that dogs ignored the human demonstrator and learned how to solve the puzzle on their own."
In line with this, the researchers also experimented the puzzle with children same process they use with the dogs. They found that the kids continue to do both actions such as lifting the lid and pulling the lever, even though the lever was irrelevant.
A doctoral student at Yale study author Angie Johnston said that "One reason we're so excited about these results is that they highlight a unique aspect of human learning. Although dogs are highly social animals, they draw the line at copying irrelevant actions," according to Health Day.
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First Posted: Oct 17, 2016 05:05 AM EDT
Dogs are famously known as man's best friend. They are usually kept and loved as pets and members of the family. Sometimes, humans train them to guard the house, do tricks from as simple as sitting to as complex as bomb sniffing and a whole lot more. Currently, a new study found that unlike children, dogs do not follow useless advice.
A team of researchers from the Yale University conducted an experiment with the help of 40 dogs. The experts found that compared to children, dogs only copy a human action if it is beneficial in getting what they want.
Director of the Canine Cognition Center at Yale and the study's senior author, Laurie Santos, said that "[c]hildren tend to copy all of a teacher's actions, regardless of whether they are necessary or not. Humans often fall prey to the bad advice of others," as reported by Health.com.
To get the results, the researchers use dog treats to test the dogs. They put the treats inside a box and lifting the lid is the only basic thing to do in getting the treat. The experts then show the dogs that the other way to open the box is to pull the lever at the side of the box. The dogs eventually figure out that the lever is irrelevant in getting their treats so they stop using the lever instead they just lift the lid.
Laurie Santos shared that "[d]ogs are surprisingly human-like in their ability to learn from social cues, such as pointing, so we were surprised to find that dogs ignored the human demonstrator and learned how to solve the puzzle on their own."
In line with this, the researchers also experimented the puzzle with children same process they use with the dogs. They found that the kids continue to do both actions such as lifting the lid and pulling the lever, even though the lever was irrelevant.
A doctoral student at Yale study author Angie Johnston said that "One reason we're so excited about these results is that they highlight a unique aspect of human learning. Although dogs are highly social animals, they draw the line at copying irrelevant actions," according to Health Day.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone