Slashdot Mirror
Dog Trained on 200-Word Vocabulary
An anonymous reader writes "The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany is reporting in Science Magazine today on an example of successful human to non-human communication: Rico, a collie trained on a vocabulary of 200 words. Their conclusion is that 'brain structures that support this kind of learning are not unique to humans...[Rico has a] retrieval rate comparable to the performance of three-year-old toddlers'. In case you ever wondered if your dog understands what you are saying, Rico 'can learn the names of unfamiliar toys after just one exposure to the new word-toy combination.'"
"Get me a beer you damn dog!"
I'd buy THAT dog for a Dollar!
If those damn dogs wanna live in our country, let them learn OUR language.
wuf wuf
Anyone seen my jagged little pill?
...we could teach our High School students as well.
I think I think, therefore I think I am.
The common canine really is more intelligent than George Dubya.
Rico 4 Prez!
She's built like a steak house, but she handles like a bistro....
Dyslexically, I read that as 'Dog Trained on Word 200...'
A cut-down version for non-humans?
Somebody took an Underdog Super Irony Pill today.
KFG
Not to mention, a border collie learns to keep its own ass clean much more rapidly than a human.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
the brain's plans of world domination come true???
(Karma be damned; I am no better than an AC anyway)
Bark
Rough
Bow Wow
Grrrr
Whimper
Whine
Howl
Roof
http://www.kubuntu.org/
A dog may be able to bark, but a dog cannot bark about barking.
Here is an example conversation:
Me: "What's on top of the house?"
Dog: "Roof!"
Me: "Who's the most famous baseball player?"
Dog: "Ruth!"
Me: "How does sand-paper feel?"
Dog: "Rough!"
3 out 3!
Table-ized A.I.
Rico knows 200 words? That's a heck of a lot more words that George W Bush knows.
public void fetch(Object what)
{
if (what == newspaper)
newspaper.ripToShreds();
else
what.drenchWithDrool();
}
public void annoyNeighbour(int nightsPerWeek)
{
if ( nightsPerWeek < 7 )
nightsPerWeek = 7;
self.bark();
self.scratchFence();
self.rattleGate();
self.bark();
}
public void walkOnFootpath(Boolean leashed)
{
if ( ! leashed)
self.chaseChildren();
self.crap();
}
(In case you hadn't noticed, I don't like dogs much! Fido can take his 200 word vocabulary and go play in the traffic.)
It's a good thing your ex was able to occupy it like that. I used to have one of those things. By the time we had to get rid of it (We gave him to a sheep farm, where he's happily herding sheep now), he had learned how to open doors, how to bypass the invisible fence, and how to open the cupboard with his food in it. We also suspected he was working on his MSCE on the side (He kept on ripping apart boxes of Microsoft products we put on the book shelves...I wish I was making that up)
Last I heard the average human had a vocab of around 2500 words or less.
Did you think that statement through at all? Dude... there are probably more than 2500 different words in one slashdot page alone, given probability and the fact that English contains over one hundred thousand words - you mean that most of tis is gibberish to the average human?
Oh, wait...
(Damn, that must have been the stupidest claim I've ever seen, and I've visited some religious sites now and then).
Whilst I'm impressed that a dog can manage it, I'm surprised that few people do these sorts of experiments on cats. In my experience, cats don't just understand words, they can empathise with humans, have a broader range of emotions, and can devise strategies. But then, in a test, I imagine that a cat would be too lazy and would act dumb to get out of the task :D
Do you see what I did there?
Welcome our new canine over...
No, wait, I just can't wrap my head around that one. Come back to me when they figure out what side of the door they want to be on.
polite, friendly and competent
er, pick any two.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
Let's see - your sig says "please hire me" and your post says:
;-)
After 18 years of watching them, I believe they're not only as smart as people, but that part of the reason some people have problems with their border collies is that the dog is smarter than they are.
Take it from me, gong to job interviews and proudly saying "I'm almost as smart as a dog" is unlikely to get you a job anytime soon!
I hope you don't seriously believe what you wrote?
My dog's even smarter than yours...
We could spell "s-n-i-f-f t-h-a-t o-t-h-e-r d-o-g'-s a-s-s" or "l-i-c-k y-o-u-r o-w-n b-a-l-l-s" and he would do it every single time without fail!
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