Many dog lovers as well as youtube aficionados know the silly behavior exhibited by a dog presented with a mirror. Dogs will start to bark and exhibit other amusing behaviors when they see their reflection in a mirror. Some may even go up to the mirror in an attempt to sniff or lick their reflection. Dogs act like they are seeing a completely different dog when they look in the mirror, which can be inferred from the fact that they behave the same way with a mirror reflection as they due with a new dog.To a dog, they are seeing a completely new dog for the first time. A dog's brain does not have the same complex neural pathways that are in the human brain. The lack of neural channels in their brain makes it impossible for them to have the self awareness required for recognizing a reflection as themselves. That is why it treats the dog as a foreign intruder and does not recognize it as itself.
There are some animal that do have the neural capabilities that allow them to recognize themselves in mirrors. These animals are often evolved in other ways that are comparable to humans as well, like have complex communication mechanisms. These include humans, primates such as chimps and apes, and some marine creatures like bottlenose dolphins and killer whales.
The bottlenose dolphin was studied to see if it had the cognitive abilities to recognize itself in a mirror. It had zinc oxide placed on it and then taken off the animal. It would inspect itself in the mirror after the change of having zinc oxide added or removed from its body. This instinct to go check itself in the mirror shows that the animal is aware that something has happened to its body and its image has changed.
Sadly dogs are not at the same cognitive levels as primate or dolphins, but they defiantly get a laugh out of you when they exhibit this silly behavior.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635701001346#sec5
Posted by Noelle Kellicker
This is really interesting to me considering dogs seem to have a stronger interest in self-awareness when compared to dolphins. They live more active and interactive lifestyles and are highly developed at recognizing visual cues. Where does this self-awareness develop from? What is the benefit of being able to interpret an image as yourself if the situation never arises?
ReplyDeleteBy Joseph Needleman
I'm also curious as to the benefits of self-recognition.. It seems to be found only in mammals with well-developed social groups, but I wonder why dogs (living in packs) or some cats (like lions, living in prides) don't possess this adaptation? I'd definitely be interested in learning more about this subject!
ReplyDeletePosted by Brianna Eddy
Perhaps being aware of ones self is not highly beneficial to certain animals, hence why natural selection did not "chose" to evolve it. Other animals with more complex brain capacities, which is a key component in being able to manipulate this ability, could benefit more from this ability than others, explaining why it only occurs in certain organisms. I agree that researches should look into the benefits, as it could provide important information about evolution.
ReplyDeletePosted by Sara Corey
My cats did the same thing when they were kittens! Although now that they are older they no longer exhibit this behavior, I wonder if they learned or just lost interest in that sort of play behavior. Also, I wonder why we evolved those neural channels, is being able to see our reflections just an added bonus to some cognition that the channels were initially selected for? Or is there some benefit to understanding reflections? Besides knowing how we all look I can't think of too many benefits of seeing yourself in a mirror.
ReplyDeletePosted by Caitlin Descovich O'Hare
In response to Brianna Eddy
ReplyDeleteI believe that dogs and cats recognize eachother through smell and not sivual cues. This would be interesting to study how smell affects dogs in a pack. I know one researcher chnaged the facial color patterns of wasps and the ones with different facial patterns were attacked. I wonder if a dogs chemical smell was changed if it would still be accepted into its pack.
Posted by Noelle Kellicker
My dog does the same exact thing; in fact she actually runs into the mirror when she sees her reflection because she thinks there is another dog and wants to play. I knew that besides us primates could recognize themselves in the mirror but Ive never heard of dolphins exhibiting this behavior. I wonder if similar neuronal pathways that are involved in cognition are the same in us, primates, and the dolphin. Are there any cases of dogs that can recognize themselves in the mirror or can a dog learn over time that the image in the mirror is actually itself?
ReplyDeletePosted by Nick Gast
I've definitely observed this behaviour before. My parents have two yappy little yorkies and a full size mirror in their room. The dogs will stand at the base of the mirror yipping and yapping until they tire themselves out. One interesting thing I noticed is they only bark at their own reflection. They seem to notice their sister's reflection, but aren't bothered enough to bark at it. Maybe they recognize it as a familiar dog and realize they are just seeing their sister, but don't have the self awareness to realize what they look like?
ReplyDelete-Rhys Ursuliak
I am actually kind of surprised that dogs cannot recognize themselves in the mirror. I would think that the more intelligent breeds like the border collie or the dalmatian might actually be able to recognize themselves. I also wonder what made self recognition develop in dolphins and whales. I would be interested to know if crows and african grey parrots can recognize themselves since they are pretty smart.
ReplyDeletePosted by Caroline Adams
My poodle used to do this! She would always try to play with her reflection as a puppy, but now she pays it no mind. This leads me to think that self-recognition is partially learned as the dog develops, since she doesn't greet her reflection with the same enthusiasm now as she did when she was younger. I also wonder what the evolutionary benefit of this ability is in dolphins. One cause could be that water is a reflective medium, but that's only from the surface, where dolphins spend a relatively small amount of their time, so I doubt their environment has much to do with it. What were the details of the zinc oxide study? I feel that there are other conclusions you can draw from a dolphin going back to look at a mirror multiple times, since they are naturally curious animals.
ReplyDeletePosted by Chelsea Van Thof
My dog used to do this all the time. He would jump up in surprise as this "strange" dog was suddenly right next him. Dogs rely largely on their sense of smell to identify other dogs, so this experience must be especially strange as there is no distinctive smell coming from this mirror image dog. My dog is now disaffected by the mirror image which indicates that he has either become used to this dog or that he realizes it is his reflection.
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Thomas
This was a good read and I can relate to this since my dog looks in the mirror and barks at itself all the time. After many years, it still has not recognized the fact that it is looking at itself. I am impressed to find that dolphins are cognitive enough to recognize a physical change in their appearance. Are there any other animals out there that have complex neural pathways like humans?
ReplyDeletePosted by Ryan Dulmaine