Humans can communicate various instructions to dogs without using actual words—simply by modulating the tone of their voice, a new study from ELTE University's Department of Ethology shows. By repeating the nonsense syllable 'bü' in different intonations, humans successfully signaled "Yes," "No," "Here," and "There" and, remarkably, dogs responded correctly, despite receiving no prior training. The findings reveal ancient acoustic codes, interpretable across species, that predate language itself. The study was published in Cognition.

Humans can communicate various instructions to dogs without using actual words—simply by modulating the tone of their voice, a new study from ELTE University’s Department of Ethology shows. By repeating the nonsense syllable ‘bü’ in different intonations, humans successfully signaled “Yes,” “No,” “Here,” and “There” and, remarkably, dogs responded correctly, despite receiving no prior training. The findings reveal ancient acoustic codes, interpretable across species, that predate language itself. The study was published in Cognition.

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  • Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    21·
    20 days ago

    Your dog understands the sound you make and your associated intention when you say “sit” in English because that’s what they’ve been exposed to the most. Do it enough times in Spanish and Japanese and they’ll eventually figure those out, too. That doesn’t mean the dog understands how to say “sit” in three different languages, it means they understand you’ve got three different “sounds” that mean you want them to sit.

    • voltaa@lemmy.ca
      3·
      19 days ago

      Is that not just understanding language though? I could say the exact same thing about myself.

      • Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        13·
        18 days ago

        No, because there’s no “understanding” of language going on here. The dogs are responding to a trained stimulus. I could train a dog to sit when told to stand and they wouldn’t be confused at all because it isn’t the word itself they’re interpreting and responding to.

        ETA: Downvoters need to stop anthropomorphizing their animals. It’s not healthy for you or them.

        • voltaa@lemmy.ca
          51·
          19 days ago

          I still would say the same could be said for people. If from birth I was told that stand means sit, and I was raised in that manner, my response to being told to stand would be to sit, language is overall a response to a trained stimulus. It’s a very complex and interwoven response to trained stimulus but I am not interpreting the word itself, I am responding to what I have been trained that the word means. When I learn a new word I don’t respond based on what it means without having it demonstrated or explained.