Dogs Can Extend Word Meanings to New Objects Based on Function, Not Appearance

Gifted Dogs Generalize Words to Items With the Same Function

A new study shows that gifted word learner dogs extend verbal labels to new objects based on functional similarity and form categories not only by how objects look but also by what they can do.

Dogs can learn and remember how toys work

We’ve long known that dogs are pretty smart. They may “picture” objects in their heads just like us, communicate with button boards, and can even understand fairly complicated words. They also appear to categorize objects by function, understanding how similar types of toys work, even if they don’t look alike. The findings are detailed in a study published today in the journal Current Biology.  Human infants naturally learn new words and their a…

Dogs can extend word meanings to new objects based on function, not appearance

A study published in Current Biology by the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University reveals that dogs with a vocabulary of toy names—known as Gifted Word Learners—can extend learned labels to entirely new objects, not because the objects look similar, but because they are used in the same way.

Dogs with Large Vocabularies Can Understand Category Words, Not Just Names

These dogs can extend words to new objects based on function the way children do in early language learning