A clever border collie that can fetch at least 200 objects by name may be living proof that dogs truly understand human language, German scientists have reported
Published:
11 June 2004 y., Friday
A clever border collie that can fetch at least 200 objects by name may be living proof that dogs truly understand human language, German scientists have reported.
Rico can figure out which object his master wants even if he has never heard the word before, the researchers say.
The findings, reported in the journal Science, may not surprise many dog owners. But they are certain to re-ignite a debate over what language is and whether it is unique to humans.
Rico's abilities seem to follow a process called fast mapping, seen when young children start to learn to speak and understand language, they report.
Fast-mapping allows a child to form quick and rough hypotheses about the meaning of a new word the first time they hear or see it.
"(Rico) lives as a pet with his owners and was reported by them to know the labels of more than 200 items, mostly children's toys and balls, which he correctly retrieved upon request," Julia Fischer of the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and colleagues wrote.
His owners say "Rico, wo ist der (where is the) Banane (banana)," or "BigMac" or "Panda", and the dog searches, out of sight of the owner, until he finds the object.
Fischer and colleagues set up experiments to test the dog and are satisfied that he understands the words.
Šaltinis:
abc.net.au
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Ingvar Kamprad, the Swede who founded furniture retail chain IKEA, has overtaken Microsoft's Bill Gates as the world's richest man
more »
Roads in Lithuania are among the best in EU accession states
more »
Anatolij Karpov chess school was inaugurated on May 30 in Vilnius. The school is established in “Santara” Vilnius secondary school.
more »
A family brewer in Chodova Plana, in the western Czech Republic, has invented a new way to enjoy the lager flavour on a slice of toast
more »
Upstairs from a McDonald's and across the hall from a casino, Prague's latest attraction greets visitors with a hulking iron statue of Lenin
more »
Quality of life in Vilnius is higher than in Riga or Tallinn, says a recent poll by Mercer Human Resources Consulting
more »
High tech jumpers and classical philharmonic sounds to welcome the European Year of Education through Sport 2004
more »
Latvian police said a drunk picked up with around twice the blood-alcohol level considered deadly had probably set a world record but would wake with a hangover to match
more »
Ludwig van Beethoven's original manuscript for the scherzo movement of the string quartet in E flat sold for more than Ј1 million ($A2.73 million) at auction early today
more »
Tiger Woods is to marry his Swedish girlfriend Elin Nordegren, the 23-year-old former model’s father has confirmed
more »