The capacity of the dogs The ability of dogs to remember goes far beyond what was previously thought. A recent study has revealed that some dogs have an exceptional memory for retaining the names of objects, such as their toys, even after long periods of not seeing them. This discovery not only adds a new dimension to our understanding of canine intelligence, but also offers key clues to understanding fundamental aspects of memory and language in humans.
A group of scientists from Eotvos Loránd University in Hungary conducted an experiment with dogs that had previously learned the names of a series of toys. The results were astonishing: after two years without seeing these objects, the dogs still remembered several of them. This finding challenges the common belief that animals only remember what they experience on a regular basis. In fact, their memory It seems to be much more developed than we thought.
A notable case in previous studies is that of Chaser, a border collie who learned the names of more than a thousand toys, demonstrating that dogs’ ability to remember is not exclusive to humans or animals with advanced cognitive characteristics. However, what makes the new study unique is that dogs not only learned toy names, but were able to retain this information for a long period of time in their memory without requiring frequent exposure.
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This finding is not only relevant to owners of petsbut also for science in general. Memory is one of the pillars of language, and understanding how dogs use it could be key to unraveling some of the mysteries about the evolution of human language. According to Shany Dror, lead author of the study, studying dogs could help us identify which cognitive abilities we share with them and which are unique to humans.
“To understand why language is uniquely human, we need to find out which aspects of language exist in other animals and which don’t,” Dror said. This suggests that studying language memory In animals like dogs it not only improves our understanding of them, but also brings us closer to better understanding our own nature.
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The study, published in the journal Biology Letterswas based on an experiment with five dogs The dogs had previously learned the names of 12 new toys. These objects were then kept for two years and then presented again to see if the dogs could recognize them. Incredibly, the canines were able to identify the correct toy 44% of the time, which significantly exceeds the rate that would be expected if they were choosing at random. In some cases, the dogs had a success rate of as much as 60%.
Although not all dogs have the ability to remember names of objects, the study suggests that those who do have a closer relationship with their owners. The dogs that excel in this type of test are those whose owners spend more time interacting and teaching them. This finding highlights the importance of constant and quality interaction with dogs to develop their cognitive skills.
