Those who say that their dogs can understand what’s being said to them will be happy to know that they’re right – sort of.
Those who say that their dogs can understand what’s being said to them will be happy to know that they’re right – sort of.
New research has shown that the animals process speech much in the way that humans do.
It’s unclear how well actual words are understood, but there is evidence that dogs can sort out what part of the message being relayed is information and which aspects are emotional.
This was determined through experiments involving about 250 canines.
The participants listened to recordings broadcast on two speakers situated on either side of them.
At times messages that were likely familiar were played. In other instances nonsensical phrases were used.
Variations were made to the humanness of the voice quality and the emotional tone.
The researchers found that when presented with an audio track that that was information heavy, the dogs gave physical indications that their left hemisphere was hard at work.
When emotional content was dominant, the right hemisphere took over.
That’s pretty much how people go about the comprehension process.
Said one of the study’s authors, "Developing our understanding of how dogs perceive human speech is obviously beneficial in improving our communication with them."
