Investigating responses to object-labels in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris).

ABSTRACT: Since the dawn of comparative cognitive research, dogs were suspected to possess some capacity for responding to human spoken language. Neuroimaging studies have supported the existence of relevant mechanisms, but convincing behavioral performance is rare, with only few exceptional dogs worldwide demonstrating a lexicon of object-labels they respond to. In the present study we aimed to investigate if and how a capacity for processing verbal stimuli is expressed in dogs (N = 20), whose alleged knowledge of verbal labels is only backed-up by owner reports taken at face value, and concerning only a few words (on average 5). Dogs were tested in a two-choice paradigm with familiar objects. The experiment was divided into a cue-control condition (objects visible to the owner vs. shielded by a pa

SUBMITTER: Koszegi H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9950079 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature