Stay! Good Boy!

I spend my day bouncing ideas for posts off my co-workers…..they can be extremely helpful…..

Anyone that has friends of the canine persuasion knows that they can be a bit smarter than many humans……but a recent study helps explain why they act as they do……

Dogs might be better than humans at ignoring bad advice, suggests a new study out of Yale. In the experiment, researchers trained dogs to get a treat out of a box by moving a lever and then lifting the lid. Then they left the dogs on their own, and a significant number of them soon figured out the truth: There was no need to move that lever; they merely needed to lift the lid and get their treat. That’s interesting in and of itself, notes a post at New York, but it’s far more interesting when contrasted with a similar experiment conducted several years ago with kids. In that one, the human subjects went right on pulling that lever, because they had been instructed to do so.

“Humans often fall prey to the bad advice of others,” says lead author Laurie Santos of Yale’s Canine Cognition Center in a release. “Children tend to copy all of a teacher’s actions, regardless of whether they are necessary or not.” The dogs, however, were all about ruthless efficiency. Don’t be too hard on the humans, though: The researchers behind the study in Development Science say it’s vital kids follow seemingly useless commands. As Time explains, “for a species with as elaborate a social system as ours, efficiency in learning is not necessarily a good thing.” For instance, a child who learns to wash his hands before eating is delaying his meal, but for good reason. (Dogs seem to be clued in to false praise as well.)

What can I say…..most times they are a lot more helpful than many people…..even if they can be a bit stubborn…..

That be it for day……everyone thanx for the week’s visits and please go out and enjoy the early Autumn weather…..

Back tomorrow with more STUFF!

Peace my friends.

6 thoughts on “Stay! Good Boy!

  1. I am in complete disagreement with the research. Most children are brought up to obey the directions of others from birth. Unless the test subject dogs went through obedience training since birth, I do not think that a parallel comparison is plausible.

    1. I have a border collie who my best friend and she can out think many people I know….so I kinda agree with some of the conclusions…

      1. Most research models are flawed because there are always some truths to their findings. However, the conclusions over time are usually contradicted when tested thoroughly.

  2. It’s obvious they wear themselves out helping you…. y’all do good work, so they deserve the rest.

    *wink*

    Have a good weekend, bro… this is all I got today…

    gigoid

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