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A scientific experiment which will be broadcast live for the next six weeks under the supervision of the Faculty of Ethology of the ELTE University, from Budapest, try to find between seis border collie from the same number of countries to “the smartest dog in the world“.
It is called the competition in which dogs from Spain, Hungary, Brazil, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States participate “Genius Dog Challenge“(Cool Dog Challenge), in honor of the special abilities of animals. In this case it will consist in recognizing the names of many objects.
After researching over two years, ELTE researchers found these six dogs that will compete live in their respective countries in December. According to his performance They will analyze which of them can learn the most toy names they receive.
The experiment
The first phase will last a week elBorder collies will receive the same six toys. In the second they will give him twelve, and in 14 days they will have to learn the names of these objects.
In each of the rounds, two dogs compete and their owners wait in a room. When the animal sees several objects on the ground, it must choose as many toys as there are the names of its trainer.
Scientists have pointed out that it is important for the dog to enter the room only to prevent the owner from signaling him, even if unconsciously. “It sounds easy, but for the vast majority of dogs, learning the name of objects is very complicated“, explained Ádám Miklósi, director of the Department of Ethology and project manager, in dialogue with EFE.
“These dogs are special talents because they learn six to ten words a week, which is a lot. This ability appears only in one other species: humans“said the researcher.
Although all participants are border collies, not that this is a more intelligent race than othersBut for some reason there are more talents among them and part of the research is explaining that phenomenon.
The investigation
The competition is part of a larger project, which bears the name of “Family Dog”, started 25 years ago by ELTE, whose Department of Ethology is one of the most appreciated in the world.
“What we analyze is what mental abilities dogs have and which ones they use in their contacts with humans, such as communication, affection and learning, “explained Miklósi. He added:” We started this quest to include more dogs. It was difficult and in two years we found these six, whose owners have decided to participate. “
Through the experiment, the researchers will analyze what are the learning limits of these dogs, but also how their brains work. Experts still don’t understand the mechanism behind this talent for naming objects.
“You have to see what are the aspects that make it possible and find out what the differences are compared to other dogs“He said. Furthermore, this knowledge could also be used to understand human language learning, as learning the name of things is a very important part of growing up.
“This special ability also has dolphins and parrots, and now we see those dogs too,” he said.
What do dogs understand?
Many think that when they talk to dogs, animals understand, but in fact 99.99% of the cases they do not, according to the ethologist. For example, when the owner tells him to wear the leash before walking, the dog does not take it in his mouth because he understands the word, but because he knows from previous experience that when the owner approaches the door, he puts on his coat. get out, and the leash is part of the ride.
Likewise, there are some “talents” that have been shown to include whole sentences, such as: “Put the ball in the chair”, which is already extremely complex.
Other related searches
The department headed by Miklósi carries out other important investigations relating to dogs. One of them, started in 2010, focuses on robotics, where they look for ways to apply knowledge about the relationship between humans and dogs for the development of social robots. Another focuses on aging dogs and tries to use human experiences as a basis.
From: El Mercurio
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