Study reveals it's best to speak a little slower when talking to dogs

When talking to dogs, some people change the tone of their voice or use baby talk. A research team led by behavioral ecologist Eloise Dieu of the University of Geneva published a paper on how to speak in a way that is suitable for communicating with dogs.

Dog–human vocal interactions match dogs' sensory-motor tuning | PLOS Biology
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002789

Science Says You've Been Talking to Your Dog Completely Wrong
https://www.inverse.com/science/pet-science-dog-talk-slow

The researchers collected dog barks, barks, and human conversations from YouTube, and investigated the natural speech rates of dogs and humans. They also played recordings of their owners' voices giving instructions at different speeds and to see whether the dogs followed the instructions.

As a result, it was found that dogs vocalize about two times per second, while humans speak about four syllables per second in normal conversation and about three syllables per second when talking to dogs. It was also found that when dogs hear their owner's voice, brainwave activity is strongest in the delta wave band of 0 to 4 Hz. On the other hand, when the human brain processes sound, brainwave activity is mainly active in the theta wave band of 4 to 8 Hz, resulting in contrasting results between humans and dogs.

Furthermore, when the research team measured the synchronization between brain waves and audio signals, they found that while human brain waves synchronize with audio signals over a wide range, from 1 to 10 Hz, dogs' brain waves synchronize strongly with audio signals in the range of 1 to 3 Hz.

In addition, the researchers found that the speech rate of humans speaking to dogs is somewhere between the 'speed of normal human conversation' and the 'natural speech rate of dogs,' suggesting that humans may unconsciously adjust their speech rate to match the dog's auditory processing ability.

Based on these results, the research team argues that 'in order to communicate better with dogs, it is effective to speak slowly and with a controlled intonation.' In particular, when giving instructions, it is recommended to speak using the same words and tone of voice and at a speed that matches the dog's understanding.

The research team stated, 'The results of this study suggest that over the long history of human and dog coexistence, the communication abilities of both parties have evolved while influencing each other,' and added that future challenges include comparing the results with other animal species and verifying them in different languages and cultures.

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