Dogs Can Associate Words with Objects, Study Finds

Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Dogs Can Associate Words with Objects, Study Finds

Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Owner Franciska Furik puts electroencephalography (EEG) electrodes on Cuki, a 12-year-old Fox Terrier, during a test that found dogs can associate words with objects, at the Ethology Department of the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, Hungary, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)

Dogs are able to understand that some words refer to objects in a way that is similar to humans, a small study of canine brain waves has found, offering insight into the way the minds of man's best friends work.

That our four-legged companions are able to recognize words that prompt actions will come as no surprise to dog owners who tell their pets to "sit" or "fetch".

However, the study, which analyzed brain activity in 18 dogs, provided evidence that they can activate a memory of an object when they hear its name. The study was carried out at the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest and published in the journal Current Biology.

"There has been a long debate on a non-human animal's ability to understand words referentially," said Marianna Boros who co-authored the study.

"While there have been behavioral reports, these were always exceptional cases. Our study is the first where we claim that this is a species-wide capacity."

During the study, dog owners said words for objects their pets knew. Then in some cases they would present the dog with an object that matched the word, while in other cases the object didn't match.

The results found that the patterns in the dogs' brains when the words matched the objects were different compared to when they didn't. This is similar to what can be observed in humans.

"Dogs can understand that words stand for things... So they activate mental representations and they link the meaning of the word to a mental representation and not just the context," said Boros.

The researchers plan to examine if this ability to understand referential language is specific to dogs or might be present in other mammals as well.



Concern as Orangutan Seen Roaming Indonesia Coal Site

This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
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Concern as Orangutan Seen Roaming Indonesia Coal Site

This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)
This screen grab taken from video released by Ahmad Baihaqi shows a critically endangered orangutan walking in a coal mine in Borneo's East Kutai regency of East Kalimantan province on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Ahmad Baihaqi / AFP)

Footage of a seemingly confused orangutan roaming the desolate site of an Indonesian coal mine, meters from excavators, has sparked renewed concern about the future of the critically endangered species.

The images, taken last month by a local resident and verified by AFP, are from the same province on Borneo island where Indonesia is building its new capital, a project environmentalists fear will endanger animal habitats in Asia's last great rainforest.

Indonesia has one of the world's highest deforestation rates, with commodities mining a key driver, but it is also one of only two places in the world where orangutans are still found, along with Malaysia.

The footage, which went viral on Indonesian social media, shows the male orangutan roaming across a chasm of sand streaked with white and black rocks, dug into land still surrounded by vegetation.

"Humans are sometimes too greedy. I hope God won't punish us," read one comment on the video, which racked up tens of thousands of views across YouTube and TikTok.

Locals standing on a bluff overlooking the site filmed the creature as it meandered metres from a digger that was seemingly oblivious to its presence.

Ahmad Baihaqi, who filmed the images, said a group of locals had been watching activity at the mine site when they spotted the primate.

"I felt bad because he looked so confused," the 22-year-old driver told AFP.

"He was alone and looked lost, he didn't know where to go because the forest was disappearing."

The sighting took place in East Kalimantan, where Indonesia is building its multi-billion-dollar capital city Nusantara at breakneck speed.

- Habitat disturbed -

Although the coal mine is a nine-hour drive from the construction site, the images renewed doubts about government claims that economic activity in the province is not affecting endangered animals.

Local environmentalist Mappaselle of the Balikpapan Coastal Working Group, who like many Indonesians uses one name, said the footage was clear evidence of that impact.

The orangutan sighting "was definitely because their habitat has been disturbed and is getting smaller," he said.

"Our endangered wildlife could go extinct," he warned.

"It's a natural wealth from God to us on Earth. If wildlife goes extinct, humans have failed in our job to protect nature."

All three species of orangutan are considered critically endangered, though estimates of the number left in the wild vary considerably.

Ari Wibawanto, head of the local conservation agency which sits under Indonesia's environment ministry, told AFP its officials had located the 15-year-old wild orangutan and moved it to a protected forest area after the footage surfaced.

But he argued that it was natural for male orangutans to roam around.