A brand-new research study released in Scientific Reports exposed that canines comprehend the relationship in between their body and the environment in an issue resolving job. The scientists of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary) discovered that canines can acknowledge their body as a challenge, which capability is among the fundamental symptoms of self-representation in people.
A brand-new research study released in Scientific Reports exposed that canines comprehend the relationship in between their body and the environment in an issue resolving job. The scientists of the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary) discovered that canines can acknowledge their body as a challenge, which capability is among the fundamental symptoms of self-representation in people.
Self-representation is the capability of holding info in one’s own psychological design about themselves. In people this capability reached an exceptionally complicated kind, called self-consciousness. However, a few of its aspects may appeared throughout the advancement of non-human animals, too, according to the offered types’ environmental requirements.
“Dogs are perfect subjects for the investigation of the self-representation related abilities as we share our anthropogenic physical and social environment with them. Thus, it is reasonable to assume that at least some of its forms might appeared in them, too. From these, body-awareness might be one of the most basic ones” — describes Rita Lenkei, PhD trainee, very first author of the research study.
The scientists adjusted a paradigm that was formerly utilized just in elephants and people. During the initial test the young children are asked for to turn over a blanket or mat they are resting on. However, this job can just be carried out if the topics comprehend the connection in between their own body and the mat, as a result first of all they need to leave the mat prior to passing it to the experimenter. In the case of canines, the technique needed to be customized to the four-legged topics, and a ball was connected to the mat so dogs right away comprehended the demand of the owner to pass the item (together with the mat).
“We developed a more complex method than the original one to make sure that dogs only leave the mat when it was truly necessary. Based on our results even during their first attempt they left the mat significantly sooner and more likely when it was needed to solve the task, compared to when, for instance, the ball was anchored to the ground” — states Dr. Péter Pongrácz, primary detective.
The outcomes are especially intriguing in the light of that this experiment is believed to be connected to the popular mirror mark experiment, in which people and likewise elephants carry out well. Moreover, in young children the beginning of being successful in this test appears at the very same time — no matter the age of the topic — when the acknowledgment of the self-reflection in the mirror.
“Based on our knowledge the dog is the first species that did not pass the mirror mark test but successfully passed the ‘body as an obstacle’ paradigm. Our results support the theory about self-representation as being an array of more or less connected cognitive skills, where the presence or lack of a particular building block may depend on the ecological needs and cognitive complexity of the given species” — explains Lenkei.
Reference: 18 February 2021, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82309-x
