Soundboard-trained dogs produce non-accidental, non-random and non-imitative two-button combinations
Amalia P M Bastos, Zachary N Houghton, Lucas Naranjo, Federico Rossano · 2024
Read Soundboard-trained dogs produce non-accidental, non-random and non-imitative two-button combinations by Amalia P M Bastos, Zachary N Houghton, Lucas Naranjo, Federico Rossano (2024) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-11628621.txt.
Description
Dogs that press soundboard buttons to 'talk' do so with intent, Bastos and co-authors argue in a 2024 study. Thousands of pet dogs now use boards with recorded words, but skeptics call the presses random or copied. A large dataset of presses by dogs and owners lets the team test three charges at once.
Presses prove non-random at the group level, and dogs do not simply echo their owners. Certain two-button pairs recur beyond chance and fit the dogs' contexts. The study cannot prove what a dog means by a press, and the authors stay careful on that point. Still, the patterns clear the lowest bars for deliberate use, renewing debate on animal communication tools.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Amalia P M Bastos, Zachary N Houghton, Lucas Naranjo, Federico Rossano |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2024 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 27 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |