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Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#111

Post by jjtheblunt »

bongodongobob wrote: post #24

I adopted an Australian Shepherd from a friend a year ago and I'm absolutely blown away by how smart he is. He even knows the neighbor dogs' names. I can say "go get spot!" and he'll run after the right dog. He knows all my family members names. He knows that "you've arrived" on Google maps means we are there. He knows that "power on" coming from my Bluetooth headphones means we are going for a walk. He gets the conc…

Our shetland sheepdog as kids was super smart (and funny as a consequence) in this huge vocabulary way too. Our current feral ancestry central american dog (dna tests call them village dogs, meaning not of a breeder created subset of the gene pool) is scary smart too. She’s probably got a HN account come to think of it.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#113

Post by gs17 »

paulpauper wrote: post #52

is it actual learning or a Clever Hans effect or other operant conditioning.

They attempted to reject a Clever Hans effect.

>To minimize potential inadvertent cues from the owner, the instructions required the owners to place the dog's toys in a different room. Owners were instructed to ask for each of the toys while ensuring that at least three toys were available for the dog to choose from.

For the test they had a camera in the room with the owner and another in the room with the toys (so the owner couldn't cheat by removing the other toys).

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#114

Post by throwawaaarrgh »

Everybody thinks their dog and/or child is a genius. But I've had a lot of dogs. Even within the same litter, some are bright, and some are dumber than a box of hammers. If your dog is smart, that's great, but your next one of the same breed might not be. Some individual dogs also don't take well to training, while others do. It's way more about the individual than the breed.

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#115

Post by galenlynch »

_whiteCaps_ wrote: post #20

I surprised that poodles were called out as a less obvious smart dog. My dog learned on her own that me holding keys + wearing glasses = car ride, while keys + no glasses = walk. It took me a while to learn how she knew what we were going to do.

I interpreted that sentence to mean poodles were a less obvious working dog:

"Yet almost all gifted word learners are working breeds. Those include the obvious breeds such as … but also less obvious ones such as poodles"

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#116

Post by GeoAtreides »

soperj wrote: post #4

They should breed them... I'm sure we could select for language geniuses.

hm, is it ethical to breed for sapience? It's interesting how literally building a new sapient being (i.e. AGI) _might_ be widely accepted and uncontroversial, yet the idea of selectively breeding dogs until they reach sapience feels wrong and yucky

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#117

Post by motohagiography »

If dogs are smarter than we knew, what are some additional tasks we could give them?

I have manuals for disability support dog training (opening doors, getting medications, helping to dress, etc) but maybe we could teach them to: - clean or arrange rooms or outdoor spaces

- find and pile firewood

- collect litter

- convey messages to named people

What else?

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#118

Post by deathanatos »

gs17 wrote: post #50
at_a_remove wrote: post #14

I've seen a few videos on YouTube of cats trained on these push-down language buttons, mounted in a hexagonal pattern, on a mat laying on the floor. The cats press a button and the button plays back a word which the owner has recorded. I'd like to see more testing out of it but the cats seem to be rather expressive. They pick the same button, so at least they are consistent in their wants. They have a few verbs in th…

I've watched a few in the past and I'm not convinced the more complex interactions are "real" language use instead of operant conditioning combined with confirmation bias. Too many of the videos will have button sequences that seem random get assigned a meaning, and even non-request button presses will get attention. Buttons for "food", "water", "pet me", "play with me", "outside" almost definitely work. Before I liv…

I know a dog that, if you've not paid attention to her water bowl and it's empty, and she wants water, will simply paw the rim of the bowl to cause it to overturn, which makes a loud clatter on the hard floor.

Once she then has your attention, she'll give you a look, as if it say "water, let's go."

I dare say she trained us — after all, we didn't teach her to do that. And sure, it's simple … but she's still purposefully communicating a desire/intent.

(She's a good girl, too.)

Re: Certain dogs are capable of learning the names for more than 100 different toys

#120

Post by AeroNotix »

wosk wrote: post #86
br3d wrote: post #79

I think what's way more interesting is that dogs can master class inclusion: they can understand that this toy is "Mr Shakey" and this toy is "Elephant" but they can also understand that there is a superordinate category of "toys" that includes both Mr Shakey and Elephant, and when asked "Go and get me a toy" can choose either. This is mind-blowing, as children normally have to reach 7 or 8 before they have a solid g…

I did not read the paper, so I cannot comment on the "solid grasp of class inclusion", but regarding the capacity that you described in your comment, I have a 2-year-old and it's been a long while since she has mastered this (book vs this book, toy vs toy, fruit vs an apple and so on). As far as I know, most two year old have already acquired this concept. (EDIT I see the other comment says something similar and you…

I didn't even know "class inclusion" was a thing really. Though obviously the concept makes sense.

My daughter had a solid grasp of it definitely around 16-18 months. She could easily talk about books or toys, cars, food, drinks etc.

Not sure if this is unusual but 7-8 as the other poster mentioned sounds crazy late for that kind of conceptual understanding to appear.

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