If you are a dog owner, or if you have been one at some point in your life, then you know that dogs are intelligent beings. Of course, this varies depending on the breed. For some dog breeds, learning the command "sit" is the maximum ability, while other breeds can be taught many other tasks and more difficult tricks beyond obedience commands.
We know that dogs are smart, but it has not yet been proven how much. While human intelligence is widely studied and discussed, little is known about canine intelligence.
Is it possible to measure dogs' IQ?
Dogs’ IQ can be measured similarly to humans’ – this is suggested by a joint new research project of the world’s leading Social Science, Education, and Research Institutes, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Scottish University of Edinburgh.
The research was published online in the scientific journal Science Direct under the title "Intelligence", which reveals that the structure of dogs’ intelligence is similar to that of humans. Experience shows that when general human intelligence is examined, i.e., when an IQ test is made, individuals tend to perform similarly in different types of cognitive tasks; those who do well in one type of task usually do well in other similar tasks as well.
In the case of dogs, one of the main questions the researchers expect to answer in the studies is: If a dog performs well in one task, will it also perform well in another?
The IQ test
The research team first developed a reliable, practical IQ test capable of measuring dogs' intelligence. The prototype dog IQ test was used to evaluate the intelligence of 68 working Border Collies.
The test included the following examinations:
- navigation test
- timed test: how long it takes dogs to find food behind various obstacles
- how well they can distinguish between less and more food
- how well they can keep up with a person using gestures and pointing at different objects
The examinations
The 68 Border Collies completed a series of different cognitive tasks. In the first test the reward was placed in a visible spot for the dogs, but they could not easily approach it because there was an obstacle in front of it. The dogs had to figure out how to go around the obstacle instead of digging underneath it. Many dogs have a natural digging instinct, which they frequently use to achieve a specific goal, but in this task this instinct had to be suppressed, and instead, they had to use their intelligence to solve the task.
Source: psicolmascot.com
The second test measured how dogs choose between two options. Two plates with different amounts of food were placed on each side in front of each dog. One plate had one piece of dog food, while the other had 5 pieces. During the test, they tried to encourage the dog to choose and evaluated whether the dog chose suggestively or independently.
The tests were completed within one hour, which is about the same time as human IQ measurement.
After completing the tasks and obtaining the results, it turned out that the dogs performed above average in the different tests, suggesting that these dogs may have above-average intelligence.
Studies Unveiled How Dogs' Thinking Works
With this discovery, scientists have taken a step closer to determining how and in what way dogs' "brains" work, which also means that humanity will potentially be able to learn more about the diseases that affect both humans and dogs.
Just like humans, dogs are also prone to age-related dementia because their brain structure changes in old age just as it does in humans. As people suffering from dementia tend to turn inward and trust others less, these same facts have proven true for dogs as well.
"I will mention a single advantage dogs have over humans. Dogs are anti-alcoholics. This means that unlike humans—who like to indulge in unhealthy things like alcohol, smoking, and unhealthy eating—dogs stay away from all these. In older humans, the aforementioned unhealthy lifestyle increases the risk of developing dementia. Since these unhealthy factors can be excluded in dogs, this allows for much more accurate analysis. The quantitative task revealed that the dog is one of the few animals that reproduces the most important features of dementia, thus their cognitive comprehension is valuable and helps to understand this disorder in humans and also can assist in treatment methods." – says Dr. Rosalind Arden, research leader at the LSE Institute.
"This is just the first step, and the ultimate goal is to develop a reliable IQ test for dogs that is simple and quick to use. These tests can help better understand how a dog's intelligence impacts health and lifespan." – stated Dr. Adams, a collaborator from the University of Edinburgh involved in the research.
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