why do dogs and people understand each other?

The barking dog has the same characteristics as the song of birds and crying babies: It is used to communicate basic emotions such as fear, suppression or submission, according to similar sound characteristics.

The latest research results show that the original communication system can be similar in almost all mammals. The hypothesis helps explain why mammals, including people, understand the sounds of other species.

(Photo: picture-newsletter) For example, research in Language Communication magazine shows that children can recognize simple emotions in the cry of monkeys. In the new study, Professor Péter Pongrácz and his colleagues figured out how humans can describe the emotions of different artificial barks.

The bark is based on the sound of a Hungarian shepherd dog, consisting of five emotional states: aggression, fear, despair, playfulness and happiness. Pongrácz, professor of customs at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, compared the listener's answer to the sound characteristic of barking.

Scientists find that the change in the three basic sound characteristics - pitch, tempo and tone - determines the listener's perception. In general, deafening barking with long distances between barking is considered less aggressive than the deeper barking of a thicker density.

Children also have similar changes when crying, except that the density of crying is more important than the altitude when they want to reveal their needs.

The relationship between frequency and elevation and emotional sensation seems to exist in many different species. According to normal physical rules, a large body will produce sounds of lower pitch, from which the listener can predict the size of the speaker.

"This relationship can form the basis of the ritual evolution process in which the low cry often refers to the overpowering of the larger animal, which will be easier to win in the fight, and the high voice also just obedient or friendly, " said Pongrácz.

Scientists also believe that the process of many years of domestication also improves the way dogs communicate with us.

MT