If you have a dog, you most likely want to know if your beloved dog can remember you or anything else.
What can dogs remember? Or can they remember anything?
Does your pet remember what you did together
Dogs remember that for humans, the ability to consciously recall personal experiences and events is thought to be associated with self-awareness. It shapes how we look at the past and how we predict the future.
Our memories help us make sense of ourselves and our experiences in the world. But since dogs can't speak, it's hard for humans to understand if they have a similar sense of self.
Studies have shown that dogs have a kind of episodic memory. And the ability of animals to recall is more common than previously thought.
Alexandra Horowitz, a dog cognitive scientist at Barnard College in New York City, commented on the study. She wasn't involved, but said it was a "creative way to try to capture the dog's ideas."
The notion that non-human animals are able to consciously remember what they have done or seen in the past is controversial. Most experts believe that episodic memories do not exist in animals because they are not self-aware.
But scientists have shown that some species do have "situational" memories. Animals such as western bush jays, hummingbirds, mice, and great apes have been observed to be able to memorize complex sequences. This strengthens their survivability. For example, the western scrub jay, remember what food they hid, when and where. They can also recall who, if anyone, was watching at the time.
This leads us to ask a couple of questions.
What happens when an animal's brain encounters an event that is not absolutely necessary for its survival?
What do they think when the incident doesn't involve someone else's actions?
"Do what I do" technique
To find out if dogs can remember these details, scientists asked 17 owners to teach their pets a trick called "do what I do."
1. Dogs learn that after seeing their owner jumping in the air, they should do the same when commanded to "do it!".
They train dogs to imitate human behavior on command. But this alone does not prove episodic memory, so the test continues.
2. In the next round of training, the owner teaches the dogs to lie down after observing them doing different things. Actions such as touching an umbrella or stepping on a chair are all used as signals. They are no longer asked to imitate the same movements made by their owners, but are asked to lie down.
3. Then the owner performed a different action, but this time after the dog lay down, the owner commanded: "Do it!"
At this time, the dog must remember what it has seen the owner do before. The action is combined with the command that commands it to execute.
Although it did not anticipate the need to recall the action, it did so.
After observing their owners for a minute and an hour, the dogs were tested in this way.
Essentially, these dogs were first trained to mimic the commanding behavior of humans.
Next, they are trained to perform simple training Xi (lying down) regardless of the movements previously demonstrated.
Therefore, they replaced the expectation of the dog imitating its owner with the expectation of lying down.
outcome
Amazingly, the dogs were successful 33 out of 35 trials. This suggests that the dog has something similar to episodic memory. However, the longer dogs wait, the more difficult it will be for them to recall movements, just like episodic memories in humans.
When events are not intentionally recorded, human memories fade at a much faster rate. For example, you're more likely to remember your first kiss than your spouse's hug last week.
To break it, dogs are able to remember the trick of "do it like me", and even if the owner performs a different trick, their memory fades over time.
According to the researchers, this suggests that dogs can remember the events they witnessed (in this case, actions performed by their owners).
But they don't keep those memories for long. As a result, dogs may have short-term episodic memories, but their associative memories last longer. (More on that later.) ）
Brian Hare, a dog cognition expert at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, said: "Research shows that dogs' memories of events are very similar to ours and disappear from the water in the old way that most scientists describe animal memories. "There was no participation in this study.
"Our dogs' memories aren't just based on repetition and rewards. ”
Research has shown that episodic memory is not unique to humans. It didn't just evolve in primates.
Although humans and animals have different levels of episodic memory or self-awareness, this suggests that dogs and other animals have a lot more memory than we think.
Claudia Fugazza, lead author of the study and an animal behaviorist at Eötvös-Loránd University in Budapest, said: "This is a more common skill in the animal kingdom. She also said parrots, dolphins and killer whales could be the next animals to be tested further.
Researchers have taught these species the technique of "do what I do".
Note: Cats are thought to have at least 200 times better memory than dogs.
Associative memory vs. episodic memory
Unlike episodic memory, we are sure that dogs have associative memories.
After all, dogs that have been trained to obey can remember commands and gestures for the rest of their lives. Dogs have been proven to have a good memory for people, places, and things.
For example, they know which fences they like to bark at and who gives them treats. Associative memory can help dogs remember their favorite things.
When you're thinking about going for a walk, you may remember a particular walk you've walked in the past. You may remember a particular route you took, or the time it rained when you were out for a walk.
According to research, dogs don't think exactly the same.
On the contrary, dogs have associative memories. They remember them based on their feelings and connections to people, places, and experiences.
For example, many dogs remember to walk because they are related to their owner's walking shoes. If you're a dog owner, you must be well aware of this. Some dogs go crazy when their owners grab their dog's leash because they associate the leash with walking, which is one of their favorite things to do.
So, this is how dogs memorize things based on their association with them.
Beautiful dog memory/training
With training, you can change your dog's associative memories and behavior. For example, when a new person comes to your home, ask them to give your dog positive attention and hospitality so that your dog will associate the person with something he/she enjoys.
Your dog may not "remember" that person the same way you remember that person, but he/she will form a positive bond with that person.
Bad memory/training in dogs
Do dogs remember bad experiences? And they do!
Although dogs don't have the same memory as us, they can form negative associations, which we might interpret as "bad memories." Just like good things, they also recall bad things.
You may notice that dogs that have been abused as children or come from abusive families show fear and fear in front of humans: that's because the person abusing the dog is likely to be human. That dog associated abuse with humans.
If he has had a bad experience with the veterinarian, he will associate the veterinarian's waiting room with that fear, although he may not remember what exactly made him so scared.
You can help dogs overcome negative associations by replacing them with positive ones. For example, go to the veterinarian's office for a couple of "fun" field trips, where inspections are not conducted. Unfortunately, the stronger the association, the more difficult it is to change the memory.
Do dogs remember people?
You may remember the first day your dog came home to stay with you. But does your dog remember the first time he saw you? The short answer is probably not.
While 2016 research suggests that dogs may have some sort of situational memory, it also reveals that dogs do have limitations to this memory. So, your dog may not be reminiscing about your first time together as much as you do.
The heartwarming news is that your dog's associative memory means that he knows who you are and that he likes you! Dogs are also strongly influenced by smells, so a dog's sense of smell can help him recognize and "remember" you, and your scent can be recognized by your dog.
So, why is my dog sitting by the window waiting for me?
Your dog may not remember everything you did together or the day you first brought her home.
But she may remember watching you leave the house this morning, and the strong positive connection she has with you means she'll be celebrating when you get home tonight. Don't forget, the 2016 study did show that dogs have short-term episodic memory.
Your dog's positive connection to you, your home, her favorite dog friends, and her favorite food means that she is constantly "remembering" your life together and celebrating the good things in it.
Even if dogs don't have fond memories of the past, their awareness of the present is a great reminder to live in the present and enjoy every experience you have together.