奇速英语

Scientists in Hungary have learned that though most dogs have trouble learning new words, some talented dogs can learn new words without really being taught. They just have to hear the word four times.

Researchers from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary studied two very smart dogs—a Border Collie called Whisky and a Yorkshire terrier named Vicky Nina. The scientists discovered that these “genius” dogs could remember the name of a new toy after hearing their owners say the name a few times while they were playing together.

Adam Miklósi, one of the scientists involved in the study, says the way these clever dogs learn seems to be similar to the way children learn words when they’re two or three years old. The experiment involved giving the dogs new toys with names that were   ▲   to them. To show that they had learned the name of the new toy, the dogs had to go get the correct toy from another room and bring it back.

To find out how the dogs learned new words so quickly, the scientists set up a test. In the test, the names of the new toys were only spoken four times. The dogs simply played with their owners, who gave them the new toy. The owner would say things like “This is a lunchbox.” or “Get the lunchbox.” This process was repeated with a second toy. After hearing each new toy’s name only four times, the two dogs were able to choose the correct toy when asked.

The scientists believe only a few very talented dogs have these abilities.