Dogs Know Words

It will come as no surprise to any dog owner that research scientists have found that pet dogs know the words for many objects. The understanding of object words had not been previously demonstrated as a general capacity in any non-human species,  despite many pet owners reporting the fact.  It has now been demonstrated.

This image is from Science News a great magazine where I read about this study

In non-verbal humans object word knowledge is typically tested using the semantic violation paradigm, where words are presented either with their matching image or another object (a mismatch).  Such mismatch elicits an N400 effect, a well-established neural correlate of semantic processing that can be measured with an EEG. Most famously this technique is used to test preverbal infants.  

Pet dogs live in our human environment and are surrounded by speech. They learn. In 2020 Gabor et al found similarities between humans and dogs in the neural processing of speech. Scientists developed a methodology of studying brain mechanics in dogs that is non-invasive using EEG much they way they study brain activity in infants.

This non-invasive canine neuroscience technique was developed and perfected in a laboratory at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. There are videos you can watch online of dogs participating in some of their research narrated by the lead scientist of this study, Marianna Boros. The dogs seem perfectly happy (tails waging) and are not restrained so they could walk away. They do have a couple of electrodes stuck to their fur. It looks harmless in the videos.

Now researchers in Budapest have tested word knowledge and found that all pet dogs tested in a small group know the words for things. Every dog I’ve ever had knew what a leash, Kong and ball were, and many, many more things. However, this is the first neuroscientific evidence that animals can understand word meaning the same way humans do.  Now if they could just test cats…but I’m afraid the two skills necessary-lying on a mat and staying awake are beyond pet cats.