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If they feel they don’t have enough information, dogs realize it and start looking for more before acting. This is what emerges from a study whose conclusions were published last year.
Man and chimpanzee have 98% of genes in common . They share in particular a very specific metacognitive quality, consisting in becoming aware of the fact of not having enough information to make a decision , pushing them to seek more before taking action. But these 2 species would not be the only ones, if we are to believe this study published in November 2018 ; the dog would also have this ability .
This experiment was carried out by a team of researchers at the Max-Planck Institute , located in Jenna , Germany. They tested 48 dogs of varying ages, all of whom had taken obedience classes. It was, for these quadrupeds, to find a reward (a treat or a toy ) hidden behind V-shaped fences . Some dogs were able to see the location of the reward, while others did not. visual on it. The authors of the study noted the number of times the quadrupeds looked through the empty spaces of the fences in their quest for the reward. They discovered that the vast majority of dogs who could not see the treat or toy examined the fence more frequently than those who saw it, before making their choice.
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A final point that also deserves to be underlined: during the test, the dogs which saw the reward still checked the empty space , as if they wanted to be absolutely sure before making their final choice. </p
