In a study led by Beata Csanyi in Hungary, ethologists found the memory recall of some dogs to be so accurate that they remembered toy names for up to two years! This finding provides a new understanding of the cognitive functioning of our closest relatives and calls into question traditional ideas about how long dogs can remember those who care for them.
Exceptional Word Learners
This paper, published in the journal Biology Letters looked at a group of dogs known as ‘gifted word learner dogs. These dogs appeared to be able to pair their human words with these toys in a way that suggests they understand something very close to language, which was previously believed only to be used by humans.
Shany Dror, Ádám Miklósi and Claudia Fugazza, who authored the study, had already showed that dogs could learn to fetch a toy by name. The researchers wanted to test this with regard to the limits of what the dogs could do–whether or not those associations remained in the long-term memory, that is, or whether they needed continual reinforcement.
So the team taught five dogs the names of 12 previously unknown toys. The dogs were proficient at the associations, so after doing this with all of the toys, they put them away for two full years so there would be no opportunity to practice and reinforce these connections.
Surprising Retention Rates
The researchers introduced one of the toys five, and then ten, minutes later, after which they mixed them in with other familiar toys and asked the dogs to look for what they had learned years ago. The dogs managed to locate the accurate toy 44% of the time, giving them an edge with certain members that got it right increase than 60% of the time.
This performance is above what would be expected by chance and as a result the dogs obviously had remembered each name some days later. The scientists claim that their study shows dogs are capable of some of the same sophisticated cognitive processes also possessed by humans, and not just after minutes or hours — but even days.
The results dispute the one-dimensional way in which dog memory has been perceived and open up new areas for canine cognitive research. The finding provides fresh directions on just how intricate the minds of dogs can be, and on how well they can make memories last.
Conclusion
Details of the work, carried out by a team of ethologists in Hungary, are published this week in Current Biology and offer a fascinating insight into how dogs recall past experiences. In uncovering that dogs can remember the names of their toys for as long as two years, they provided a new perspective into the memory struggles typical in dogs. These findings not only confirm the extraordinary abilities of some dog breeds and individuals but also evidence that there is much yet to discover in terms of understanding canine cognition. More enhancements to our knowledge of the canine mind will reveal still deeper perceptions that may alter our perceptions of the smarts and recollections of your very best friend.
