Dogs display linguistic prowess with soundboard communication
New research published in the prestigious scientific journal Scientific Reports reveals the advanced communication abilities of four-legged animals. Researchers suggest that some dogs are capable of combining words to express their needs and desires.
The study involved 152 dogs, which their owners taught to use special soundboards, reports *IFL Science*. When the buttons are pressed, the board plays pre-recorded words or phrases. The aim of the study was to determine whether the dogs consciously selected the buttons or if their choices were random. During the 21-month experiment, nearly 195,000 interactions with the boards were recorded.
Dogs have advanced communication abilities
Interestingly, the analysis of the results showed that dogs use the buttons purposefully, combining expressions into logical sequences. The most frequently chosen single words by the dogs were "food," "treat," and "outside." Interestingly, some two-word combinations appeared more frequently than random chance would suggest. Examples of such pairs include:
- "food" and "water,"
- "outside" and "toilet,"
- "dog's name" and "want."
This last combination was particularly interesting because both components were rarely chosen individually. Researchers considered this evidence of dogs' ability to assign specific meanings to different buttons. According to one of the study's authors, Dr Federico Rossano, soundboards can significantly improve communication between dogs and their owners. Thanks to them, dogs can express their needs more precisely by combining words like "outside" and "park."
Researchers also noted that dogs do not mimic their owners' choices, indicating their independence in using the boards. For example, people often used the "I love you" button, while dogs chose it less frequently, focusing on more practical needs.
As *IFL Science* points out, scientists plan further experiments to determine whether dogs can use the boards to express more abstract concepts, such as memories, objects not present at the moment, or future events. According to Dr Federico Rossano, if dogs can communicate this information, it will change our perception of animal intelligence and communication.
