Dogs are known to have an incredible ability to sense emotions, like fear, but did you know they can also detect dishonesty? A study led by Akiko Takaoka at Kyoto University in Japan reveals that dogs can tell when humans are being untrustworthy.
The experiment involved using a well-known trick: dogs are trained to follow human gestures, like pointing at an object. Researchers pointed at a container filled with hidden food, and the dogs eagerly ran to it. But when the researchers pointed to an empty container, the dogs were disappointed to find no food inside.
The most interesting part came during the third round. When the researchers pointed to a container with food again, the dogs refused to approach it. They had learned from their previous experience that the person pointing could not be trusted. This behavior was consistent across all 34 dogs in the study, proving that dogs can recognize unreliable human actions.
According to Takaoka, this suggests that dogs possess a higher level of social intelligence than we previously realized, especially when it comes to understanding human behavior. “Dogs have more sophisticated social intelligence than we thought,” she said, noting that this intelligence developed over thousands of years of co-evolution with humans.
John Bradshaw, a researcher at the University of Bristol, who wasn't part of the study, added that dogs tend to thrive on predictability. When human gestures are inconsistent, it creates anxiety for the dogs.
The team plans to expand the research by conducting similar experiments with wolves to examine how domestication may have influenced dogs' ability to understand human intentions.