2010-09-05 18:00:03 UNITS: E99,E98
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FU - U>0XX 554 116 5843 - MTH MM13-STATE38 X RP SEES GRAY SMOKE IN THE AREA,WPH2 LAT:XX.08565200 LON:-117.041795 METERS:25 %:095,CALLER SEES SMOKE NOF OJAI CUTOFF NEAR VI
updated 7/28/2010 9:35:53 AM ET Share Print Font: +-If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, dogs often shower us with praise. New research has just determined dogs automatically imitate us, even when it is not in their best interest to do so.
The study, published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B, provides the first evidence that dogs copy at least some of our body movements and behaviors in ways that are spontaneous and voluntary.
In other words, they can't really help themselves when it comes to copying people.
"This suggests that, like humans, dogs are subject to 'automatic imitation'; they cannot inhibit online, the tendency to imitate head use and/or paw use," lead author Friederike Range and her colleagues conclude.
It's long been known that humans do this, even when the tendency to copy interferes with efficiency.
"For example," according to the researchers, "if people are instructed to open their mouths as soon as they see the letters 'OM' appear on a screen, responses are slower when the letters are accompanied by an image of an opening hand than when they are accompanied by an image of an opening mouth."
In a scientific first, Range — a University of Vienna researcher in the Department of Cognitive Biology — and her team tested this phenomenon on dogs. Ten adult dogs of various breeds and their owners, from Austria, participated in the experiments.
Story continues in likn I don’t need your attitude thanks, I have one of my own! Electricity is actually made up of extremely tiny particles called electrons, that you cannot see with the neked eye unless you have been drinking. Dave Barry (1947 - )
Registered Member #2065 Joined: Thu Feb 04 2010, 11:58AM : Posts: 32
Interesting, but it seems to me, flawed. They began by teaching the dog how to open the door, then had the owner get on hands and knees (when was the last time you opened a door like that!) and said 'yup, that's what we thought would happen' when the dogs repeated the behavior. My dogs see me wash dishes every day, but they don't hop up there to do them too.
UNITS: E99,E98 TYPE: FIRE TYPE UNKNOWN FU - U>0XX 554 116 5843 - MTH MM13-STATE38 X RP SEES GRAY SMOKE IN THE AREA,WPH2 LAT:XX.08565200 LON:-117.041795 METERS:25 %:095,CALLER SEES SMOKE NOF OJAI CUTOFF NEAR VI
Big Bear Pilots - Young Eagles
Some dogs may look like their owners, but all dogs imitate their human companions
