HotmailYou can teach an old dog new computer tricks
Canines used touch-screen computers to classify color photos
 | A dog is offered a choice of pictures on a touch-screen computer during a study of animal cognition. Without human coaching, the dogs were able to select the picture that shows a dog, just by touching the screen. |
University of Vienna |
 |
 Kid chef cooks holiday treats Nov. 27: A 13-year-old cook teaches the TODAY hosts how to whip up a turkey risotto that is perfect for the holidays. |
 | Special feature |
 | 10 tips to be a better coupon sleuth Want to save now? 10 Tips columnist Laura T. Coffey offers advice to help you upgrade your electronic and paper coupon skills. |
| FirstPerson |
 | Gallery: Your latest splurges Despite tough economic times, readers share photos of recent big-ticket purchases. |
|
 Family ditches home for RV Nov. 27: With the high rate of foreclosures, many families are going to extremes to survive. NBC's Michelle Franzen has the story of one family who is spending their days on the road. |
 | Slideshow |
 | Animal Tracks Two Thanksgiving turkeys, a see-through sea creature, a camouflaged catfish, a hungry golden monkey, a kissing pooch – plus more animals great and small. more photos |
They sport bejeweled chokers, lavish in bubble baths at spas and have their own leather-bag chauffeurs. And now our almost-like-human dogs might also try their paws at computers.
Four dogs strutted their stuff recently by using touch-screen computers to classify color photographs for a study of animal cognition.
"Using touch-screen computers with dogs opens up a whole world of possibilities on how to test the cognitive abilities of dogs by basically completely controlling any influence from the owner or experimenter," researchers from the University of Vienna in Austria write in the most recent online issue of the journal Animal Cognition.
Getting inside the brains of our canine pets has been frustrating for researchers, because a foolproof method for testing dog smarts has remained elusive. Until now, methods relied on the dog's owner or an experimenter to cue the animal, a variable that could influence the results.
Friederike Range and colleagues turned to computers. In order to test whether dogs can visually categorize pictures, and transfer their knowledge to new situations, four dogs were shown landscape and dog photographs, and expected to make a selection on a computer touch-screen.
In the training phase the dogs were shown a landscape photo and dog photo simultaneously on a computer screen. When they nose-selected the dog, they received a treat.
To test whether the canines could transfer the learned info to a new situation, the researchers flashed onto the screens a different set of dog-landscape photographs. Sure enough, the four-legged subjects chose the dog photographs.
Then, the researchers added a twist: The dog pictures were pasted onto the landscape pictures used in the training phase. In this test, the dogs had to choose between a dog-on-landscape image and a landscape-only photo. Good doggies ... they aced the test, selecting the images that included dogs.
The results indicate, according to the authors, the dogs were able to form a concept of a "dog." Whether the dogs recognized the pup pictures as actual dogs, however, is an unknown.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TECHNOLOGY & MONEY |
 Technology & Money Section Front |
| Add Technology & Money headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide