A new study says that wolves are wiser than dogs in logic tests, a difference derived from domesticated domesticated dogs.
In experiments, domestic dogs follow human instructions to perform certain tasks even though they see signs of a better way of doing things; Meanwhile, wolves choose a more reasonable strategy based on their own observations.
In fact, the reaction of domestic dogs is similar to that of babies, they often prioritize how to behave like adults have modeled.
In the experiment, a researcher will place an object in Box A and allow the research subjects to look for them. When the experimenter moved the object to Box B, the baby and the dog were confused and continued to search for the object in the original box. Meanwhile, wolves easily follow the signaling signals from the eye and determine that the object is in box B.
Experimental results help scientists better understand the evolution of social behavior, not only in dogs but also in humans.
Directions from people
Scientists think that the difference between the behavior of domestic dogs and wolves reflects two different ways of learning.
'I am not saying which species is smarter than any other,' said Adam Miklosi of Eötvös University in Hungary, co-author of the article that presented the results of the September 4 Science experiment. 'If you put a situation where an animal must exist without a human being, then wolves will be more advantageous. But in the case of dogs that must exist in human habitats, where it is important to follow human information, domestic dogs are more intelligent. '
The researchers believe that the difference between the dog and the wolf in the experiment - both subjects are kept in cots - derived from new genetic traits that have arisen over the course of more than 10,000 years of domestic dogs. people tamed. The speculation of scientists, wolves and domestic dogs has separated from a common ancestor at least 15,000 years ago.
'This result confirms the domestication hypothesis, by again pointing out the striking differences, as well as the striking similarities between wolves and domestic dogs - this is in an experiment. dogs are never experienced, ' said Michael Tomasello and Juliane Kaminski (staff of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany, who were not involved in the study) in a co-article. in Science.
Other experiments have shown that compared to wolves, domestic dogs focus more on human voices and slight vocal changes - this is another difference derived from domesticated dogs.
The connection between people and dogs
Animals are domesticated and our babies are the same in the beginning they all learn by listening and following what adults say, not self-assessing and making decisions before new situations.
'When children are young, they will be exposed to a complex environment full of troublesome situations,' Miklosi said. 'Children seem to be pre-programmed to learn from adults, especially in case they don't understand the logic behind the situation - for example, when learning a language. What they have to do is follow the instructions of adults. '
Children are programmed to follow adults when they have to cross the road or in other dangerous situations, when following their instincts and curiosity is not the best way to explore.
The same thing happens with domestic dogs, animals that have been raised to comply with human instructions, such as eating only human food available on the plate, are not allowed to poke chicken outside instinctively. .
Although experimental wolves were kept in cages from an early age, their parents or grandparents were wild animals that lived in nature, so they were not domesticated creatures with densities. points deep into the genome over thousands of generations.
Social evolution
The main purpose of the study is not to understand the results of domestic dog domestication, but to use domestic dogs and wolves as subjects to study in animals, how social behavior evolves, especially in humans.
'We see the behavior of domestic dogs and people with similarities,' Miklosi said. 'Domestic dogs become like humans because they have to live in a human social environment. This will reveal to us many things about human social evolution. '
With studying how domestic dogs learn to adapt to human society, scientists hope to understand more about how people adapt to their own society.
Interestingly, dogs and children respond differently to the same aspect of the experiment: When the researcher in the experiment was replaced by another person, the dog forgot about the lesson that Box A just took place and turn to follow the instructions from their eyes. Conversely, babies still have the same response to different instructors, continue to follow instructions from adults instead of instructions from the eyes.
Researchers believe that children are programmed to follow instructions from all adults and turn instructions into a common understanding of the world.
'Children have the impression that if they learn how to do something from an adult, everyone will act the way they are taught,' Miklosi said. 'It seems that dogs don't think so.'
"For dogs, it seems that the relationship with a particular person is very important, and what is taught will not be universally applied to all situations."