Do domestic dogs learn words based on humans' referential behaviour?
Published
Journal Article
Some domestic dogs learn to comprehend human words, although the nature and basis of this learning is unknown. In the studies presented here we investigated whether dogs learn words through an understanding of referential actions by humans rather than simple association. In three studies, each modelled on a study conducted with human infants, we confronted four word-experienced dogs with situations involving no spatial-temporal contiguity between the word and the referent; the only available cues were referential actions displaced in time from exposure to their referents. We found that no dogs were able to reliably link an object with a label based on social-pragmatic cues alone in all the tests. However, one dog did show skills in some tests, possibly indicating an ability to learn based on social-pragmatic cues.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Tempelmann, S; Kaminski, J; Tomasello, M
Published Date
- January 2014
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 9 / 3
Start / End Page
- e91014 -
PubMed ID
- 24646732
Pubmed Central ID
- 24646732
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1932-6203
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 1932-6203
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0091014
Language
- eng