Rapid learning of object names in dogs

Abstract Learning object names after few exposures, is thought to be a typically human capacity. Previous accounts of similar skills in dogs did not include control testing procedures, leaving unanswered the question whether this ability is uniquely human. To investigate the presence of the capacity...

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Autores principales:	Claudia Fugazza, Attila Andics, Lilla Magyari, Shany Dror, András Zempléni, Ádám Miklósi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c6b03d59ba424463a50ffa2f1054acbd
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c6b03d59ba424463a50ffa2f1054acbd2021-12-02T10:48:13ZRapid learning of object names in dogs10.1038/s41598-021-81699-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/c6b03d59ba424463a50ffa2f1054acbd2021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-81699-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Learning object names after few exposures, is thought to be a typically human capacity. Previous accounts of similar skills in dogs did not include control testing procedures, leaving unanswered the question whether this ability is uniquely human. To investigate the presence of the capacity to rapidly learn words in dogs, we tested object-name learning after four exposures in two dogs with knowledge of multiple toy-names. The dogs were exposed to new object-names either while playing with the objects with the owner who named those in a social context or during an exclusion-based task similar to those used in previous studies. The dogs were then tested on the learning outcome of the new object-names. Both dogs succeeded after exposure in the social context but not after exposure to the exclusion-based task. Their memory of the object-names lasted for at least two minutes and tended to decay after retention intervals of 10 min and 1 h. This reveals that rapid object-name learning is possible for a non-human species (dogs), although memory consolidation may require more exposures. We suggest that rapid learning presupposes learning in a social context. To investigate whether rapid learning of object names in a social context is restricted to dogs that have already shown the ability to learn multiple object-names, we used the same procedure with 20 typical family dogs. These dogs did not demonstrate any evidence of learning the object names. This suggests that only a few subjects show this ability. Future studies should investigate whether this outstanding capacity stems from the exceptional talent of some individuals or whether it emerges from previous experience with object name learning.Claudia FugazzaAttila AndicsLilla MagyariShany DrorAndrás ZempléniÁdám MiklósiNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Claudia Fugazza Attila Andics Lilla Magyari Shany Dror András Zempléni Ádám Miklósi Rapid learning of object names in dogs
description	Abstract Learning object names after few exposures, is thought to be a typically human capacity. Previous accounts of similar skills in dogs did not include control testing procedures, leaving unanswered the question whether this ability is uniquely human. To investigate the presence of the capacity to rapidly learn words in dogs, we tested object-name learning after four exposures in two dogs with knowledge of multiple toy-names. The dogs were exposed to new object-names either while playing with the objects with the owner who named those in a social context or during an exclusion-based task similar to those used in previous studies. The dogs were then tested on the learning outcome of the new object-names. Both dogs succeeded after exposure in the social context but not after exposure to the exclusion-based task. Their memory of the object-names lasted for at least two minutes and tended to decay after retention intervals of 10 min and 1 h. This reveals that rapid object-name learning is possible for a non-human species (dogs), although memory consolidation may require more exposures. We suggest that rapid learning presupposes learning in a social context. To investigate whether rapid learning of object names in a social context is restricted to dogs that have already shown the ability to learn multiple object-names, we used the same procedure with 20 typical family dogs. These dogs did not demonstrate any evidence of learning the object names. This suggests that only a few subjects show this ability. Future studies should investigate whether this outstanding capacity stems from the exceptional talent of some individuals or whether it emerges from previous experience with object name learning.
format	article
author	Claudia Fugazza Attila Andics Lilla Magyari Shany Dror András Zempléni Ádám Miklósi
author_facet	Claudia Fugazza Attila Andics Lilla Magyari Shany Dror András Zempléni Ádám Miklósi
author_sort	Claudia Fugazza
title	Rapid learning of object names in dogs
title_short	Rapid learning of object names in dogs
title_full	Rapid learning of object names in dogs
title_fullStr	Rapid learning of object names in dogs
title_full_unstemmed	Rapid learning of object names in dogs
title_sort	rapid learning of object names in dogs
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/c6b03d59ba424463a50ffa2f1054acbd
work_keys_str_mv	AT claudiafugazza rapidlearningofobjectnamesindogs AT attilaandics rapidlearningofobjectnamesindogs AT lillamagyari rapidlearningofobjectnamesindogs AT shanydror rapidlearningofobjectnamesindogs AT andraszempleni rapidlearningofobjectnamesindogs AT adammiklosi rapidlearningofobjectnamesindogs
_version_	1718396672968491008

Rapid learning of object names in dogs

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