A dog tilting its head looks as though it is trying to hear better, and that is the usual explanation. Except that if it were right, every dog should do it equally often. The researchers followed forty dogs. What separated them?
Knowing the word. Seven dogs that had already shown they know the names of objects tilted their heads far more than the rest. Each dog also had , and it stayed the same across months, which hints at an asymmetry in processing. That ties the tilt to handling a sound with meaning, and not only to an attempt to hear better.
The common explanation for the in dogs is that it improves hearing or sight, and on that account it should appear in any dog that is listening.
The researchers followed forty dogs while their owners said the name of a toy and asked them to fetch it from another room. recorded when the head was tilted, and to which side.
Seven dogs that had already shown they know the names of objects tilted their heads far more than the others. are very rare, which makes them a natural comparison group.
Each dog also had a preferred side that stayed the same across months, which hints at an asymmetry in processing. The result ties the tilt to handling a sound with meaning, and not only to an attempt to hear better. This was a small exploratory study, and it does not follow that every head tilt means a word was understood.
wat. Seven dogs that knew toy names tilted their heads again and again on hearing a familiar one, keeping to the same preferred side for months.
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An everyday gesture may be a window into the moment a dog connects a word it heard with an object it knows.
How do we know?
The dogs took part in repeated tests of recognizing toy names, and the researchers coded from the video when the head was tilted and to which side.
What is still unknown
This was a small exploratory study. Only seven of the dogs knew many toy names, so it does not follow that every head tilt means a word was understood.
Learn something?
Where to next
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