Scientific study reveals how dogs can foresee human behaviour
Biologists working at Dundee’s Abertay University have discovered that in future years, dogs will understand and learn how to predict human behaviour.
The project, which was led by Clare Cunningham, revealed how dogs have evolved through thousands of years of exposure to human behaviour. The Sunday Times recently revealed the results of the research, and reported that future dogs will be more tuned in to the way human’s act, allowing them to better serve their owners.
The study helped scientists understand the cognitive abilities of dogs, which are expected to increase as the years pass by. As a result, the animals will learn how to complete simple chores, like collecting post, without being commanded by their owners.
Speaking about the details of the project, Mrs Cunningham said that when the animals start to build relationships with certain humans, they tend to pay more attention to those people. Therefore, they have the ability to learn to read and could even predict certain human behaviours as familiarity increases.
Mrs Cunningham was accompanied by Mari Ramos, who helped her supervise the behaviour of 24 dogs with differing levels of training. Some were abandoned from shelters, while others were domestically and professionally trained.
Visual clues were placed in front of the canines and their responses were observed. Scientists were shocked to find that untrained dogs performed as well as the disciplined dogs. The research concluded that cognitive development is controlled by DNA and dogs “feel” with the same part of the brain as humans.
