RESEARCH REVEALS DOGS CAN DETECT UNTRUSTWORTHY INDIVIDUALS
Fool a dog once, shame on you. Fool them twice? A study says you may not get away with that. Researchers at Kyoto University discovered that dogs may determine your trustworthiness from your behaviour and even behave accordingly. Furthermore, they could only obey orders from someone they trusted.
Akiko Takaoka led the study, which was published in the journal Animal Cognition in 2015. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether dogs can detect dishonesty and whether they will obey orders from someone they can't trust. The scientists used a group of thirty-four canines and a straightforward command as the basis for their experiment. Whether it was to retrieve a ball or investigate a particular location, the dog would follow the person's direction when they pointed to it.
In the first round, participants were given the opportunity to eat a hidden treat that was indicated by a container. Then the same individual gestured again, but this time they guided the dogs to a container that was empty. In the last round, the tester once more indicated a container containing a secret treat. The dogs didn't bother to go look this time, though, even though there was a treat waiting for them.
According to the study, "these results imply that not only are dogs highly adept at comprehending human pointing gestures, but they also make judgments about the dependability of a human who delivers cues and subsequently modify their behaviour flexibly depending on the inference."
Takaoka spoke to the BBC about the experiment, and shared her surprise at how quickly dogs devalued the reliability of a human. According to Takaoka, the test demonstrates that dogs may utilize their experience to determine a person's reliability. She asserted that "dogs have more complex social intelligence than we anticipated." "Over the course of their lengthy life with humans, this social intelligence evolved selectively.
In 2021, researchers at the University of Vienna conducted a similar study. The group tested the behaviour of 260 dogs, going one step further. Two bowls were used in this study: one was empty, and the other contained a reward. Initially, someone indicated bowl A, which contained a treat. When a second person entered and moved the reward to bowl B, the dogs were able to observe. At last, the individual indicated bowl A, which was now vacant.
When the person pointed to the incorrect bowl, half of the dogs disregarded the signal, according to the scientists, indicating that the puppies were able to detect deception. However, younger canines were more inclined to obey an incorrect instruction.
“Our study provides the first experimental evidence that dogs distinguish between a true and a false belief condition in a change-of-location task,” the researchers wrote.
Dogs are renowned to be incredibly devoted and affectionate, but that doesn't mean they're not paying attention. Therefore, this serves as a reminder to be careful not to follow every trend on TikTok that could lead to you trying to deceive your dog. They are able to detect deception.
