Dog’s capacity for memory is a new field of research. While we know that dogs are capable of forming abstract concepts, and some breeds are especially gifted at word retention, what we don’t know is a lot. One area of interest is whether dogs are capable of episodic memory.
What is Episodic Memory?
Essentially, episodic memory is the unique way we retain experiences in our past. For example, if two people attend the same concert but under different contexts, their episodic memory of the same event can be totally different. The way we retain memories has a heavy influence on our identities and how we approach upcoming situations.
Scientists have debated for years whether non-human animals are capable of episodic memory. There is a lot we still don’t know, and the subject is controversial. Recalling a past experience requires a level of self-awareness, say researchers, that is hard to measure in other animals.
All that being said, a growing body of research states that many species of animals exhibit behaviors related to episodic memory. From great apes and rats to particular species of jays, researchers are striving to see to what extent other animals have episodic memory.
Finding Episodic Memory in Dogs
Claudia Fugazza is a researcher of Ethology at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. (The university has been prominent in exploring dog’s mental capacities.) Claudia developed a method of training called “Do as I Do,” or DAID. The method involves completing a simple action and then directing the dog to repeat it. The action can be as simple as jumping in the air or pushing a button. The method works by using the dog’s social cognitive skills and their “predisposition to learn from humans,” states Claudia’s website.
Claudia and her team sought to use the DAID method to see if dogs exhibit episodic memory. The study was set up using a simple, repeatable action. Claudia set an open umbrella on the ground, with the tip pointing up. Then, she instructed the dogs to sit as she approached the umbrella. As she did, she placed her hand gently on top of the umbrella. Finally, the dogs were taken away and left to rest, with the umbrella out of view.
The study contained two intervals of time, one minute and one hour. After their time was up, the dogs were brought back and instructed to complete the action they’d seen earlier. Amazingly, all the dogs were able to repeat the action. However, the dogs did struggle to remember the action after waiting for an hour.
Claudia says the results show a ‘type’ of episodic memory and the level of decay noted in the one hour period is normal, even for humans. “It shows that our dogs remember events much like we do, and [it] blows out of the water the old way that most scientists would characterize animal memory,” reports Science.org.
A New Understanding of Animal Memory
Claudia’s research, published in Current Biology, forces us to re-examine our ideas of memory in dogs. The DAID method has been used to train other animals, including dolphins and parrots, so it is possible that many species have this capacity as well. In the end, however, the good news is that your pup is more than likely able to remember all the good times you’ve shared together.
