Dogs turn out to have the ability to communicate with humans by nature
It is believed that dogs have acquired traits that are loved by humans, such as
Early-emerging and highly heritable sensitivity to human communication in dogs: Current Biology
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(21)00602-3
Puppies are born ready to communicate with people, study shows | EurekAlert! Science News
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-06/cp-pab052621.php
In collaboration with Canine Companions , America's largest service dog organization, the research team conducted an experiment in 375 puppies, averaged 8.5 weeks old, to see if they could communicate socially with humans.
The contents of the experiment are as follows. First, prepare two cups and feed one cup so that it cannot be seen by the dog. Next, by pointing to the cup with food (A) or placing a yellow mark next to the cup with food (B), the dog reads the human behavior and approaches the container with food. I checked if it was. At the same time, in order to confirm that there was no effect of odor, we also conducted an experiment without pointing or setting marks.
The figure below shows the percentage of dogs that could choose a cup with food under the above three conditions, with blue pointing, orange marking, and gray doing nothing. Represents the result of the case. Looking at the figure, when nothing is done, there is an average 48.9% chance of selecting the one with food, while when pointing, 67.4%, when placing a mark, 72.4 You can see that there is a% chance of selecting a cup with food. From this result, the research team concludes that 'dogs are highly sensitive to human gesture communication from the early stages of development.'
In a subsequent experiment, the research team spoke from outside the gauge in a 'high voice, like talking to a baby,' then went inside the gauge and measured the time it took for the dog to stare at the human face.
As a result, the dog stared at the talking human face for an average of 18 seconds. From this result, the research team claims that 'dogs can understand and react to human social signals like human children.'
Based on the above experimental results and information on dogs that participated in the experiment, the research team said that the dog's sensitivity to communication and understanding of social signals shown in the experiment were due to 'genetic factors' or 'environmental factors'. We have built a statistical model to evaluate whether it is due to 'factors'. As a result, it became clear that more than 40% of dogs' 'social communication ability with humans' is due to genetic factors.
Emily Bray, a member of the research team, said, 'A genetic factor strongly influences the high level of social skills of dogs.' It shows the possibility that 'individuals who tend to have high communication skills' are the creatures created as a result of their selection. '
'The next step is to identify the genes that are involved in the high level of social skills in dogs,' said Bray.
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