By: Aiza Akhtar A common generalization often made is that the closest living relatives to the human species are the various other primates, such as the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Yet, the word relative often implies a connotation with the word relationship, and what better relationship do we humans have than with our furry canine companions? Yes, that is correct—dogs may be smarter than we think. This past Tuesday, July 7th, GSE students explored this theory about dogs and their cognition with Brian Hare, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. Even the most pro-feline GSE students must admit that after giving his presentation, Dr. Hare proved that dogs represent the perfect example of the proof that all animal species hold a certain type of genius. Dr. Hare’s interest in dogs was inspired by his childhood best friend: a labrador. Dr. Hare explained how he would often look into his dog’s eyes and wonder what it was thinking, if anything at all. The canine interest continued when Dr. Hare entered high school and from there, it mixed with his passion for science. How can dogs possibly connect to science? is a question many audience members were thinking at this point in the presentation, which Dr. Hare answered with two words: cognitive neuroscience. Like humans, dogs (and all animals, for that matter) have cognition, or internal mental processes that they utilize to solve a problem. For dolphins, this cognition may be echolocation and their ability to use sound to interpret their surroundings. For birds, this cognition may be memorization and their ability to recall locations where they stored seeds months ago. And for dogs, this cognition is an intelligence that is shared with humans: social genius.
Social genius, in this case, refers to how dogs can communicate with other species and interpret their surroundings. For example, after 8-9 weeks, ALL dogs can miraculously understand human gestural communication. Neither Dr. Hare nor any other scientist can give a valid explanation for this—it is simply a miracle. And once this miracle was discovered, research in dogs and their social capabilities became prominent in prestigious universities such as Columbia, Yale, and Duke. One specific piece of research Dr. Hare described that astounded many GSE students was that oxytocin—a certain hormone found in both humans and dogs that is associated with feelings of empathy and trust—increases in number for both humans and dogs after contact. What’s more: this hormone is the hormone that allows parents to bond with their babies. In short, when people refer to their pet dogs as their children, they are quite literally telling the truth. One can then imagine how important dogs have become in certain situations that involve human interaction. For example, dog “jobs”—jobs that range from service to IED detection and everything in between—are more common than ever before. Before Dr. Hare’s research, the most common way to place prospective dogs into these various job sectors was to train them for around six months and hope they obtained the necessary knowledge to succeed in their job. With this strategy, over 1/2 of the trained dogs ultimately became pets because they were unsuccessful in their job. Dr. Hare’s research explains that the reason behind this failure is because just like humans, different dogs have different cognitive profiles and skills, which allow them to be efficient in certain jobs that highlight those skills but bad at other jobs that reject those skills. For example, service jobs, like aiding people with PTSD, a physical disability, or autism, emphasize expertise in communication, whereas IED detection jobs place more emphasis on memory skills. Equipped with this knowledge, Dr. Hare then proved that the most efficient way to place prospective dogs into jobs is through simplicity. Instead of extensively training the dogs for six months, Dr. Hare conducted experiments that involved the dogs completing elementary tasks and would build their cognitive profiles based on how they completed the task. The dogs would then successfully be matched to the best possible job for them based on their profile. This groundbreaking research proved a line Dr. Hare emphasized, not all science has to be rocket science, not even neuroscience. It also earned him awards such as the Sofia Kovalevskaja Award and titles such as one of the top 35 scientists under 36 (Smithsonian Magazine, 2007). Possibly the best part of Dr. Hare’s accomplishments is that they extend to the public. Through Dognition, an online interactive site created by Dr. Hare himself, anyone at any age can be a scientist. All one has to do is play a game with their furry companion, record and upload their results to Dognition, and in addition to learning more about one’s own pet dog, this information helps scientists like Dr. Hare understand more about cognition and evolutionary anthropology. In terms of his current projects, Dr. Hare is working with undergraduate students to expand his very own Duke Puppy Kindergarten, which is funded by the National Institute of Health and the very first project of its kind, at Duke University’s Canine Cognition Center. In this entirely volunteer-sponsored kindergarten, Dr. Hare and his partners use strategies that measure the behavior and cognitive abilities of dogs ranging from 8-20 weeks old to assess if they are fit for a specific job or if they would be better off simply being loved as a pet. Duke Puppy Kindergarten ran its first successful program back in 2019, with more than 10 percent of the entire student body at Duke applying to volunteer in the program. Dr. Hare hopes to start the program back up again this fall as COVID restrictions are beginning to be lifted. Alongside showing us that science can take shape in the unlikeliest of forms, Brian Hare demonstrated with his impressive research and presentation to all GSE students (cat lovers included) yet another reason why dogs should be considered one of the more elite animal species: besides being a lovable and friendly companion, they hold a certain type of genius that even animals who share over 98% of their DNA with humans can’t compete against.
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