HOROWITZ: It might be that they're - it's so easy to anthropomorphize them, and that makes them a better companion - as a matter of fact. Yeah, we tend to think that if a dog greets us with excitement, licking around our face, looks just thrilled and loving at our arrival - I think that, looking back at wolf's behavior, gives us a better indication they're probably just trying to see what we ate and see if we'll share a little of it with them.ĬONAN: And would be happy, as you point out, if we did.ĬONAN: And that's not to say that they're not boon companions, or just about the most special critters, ever.
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Isn't it? But it doesn't mean that it maps to the same feeling of upset or concern that we would have.ĬONAN: And the - well, we heard that little clip of tape about the kisses when you come home. But most of these projections are just not scientifically proven.ĬONAN: There's a sad face when near living for work in the morning? HOROWITZ: Yeah, we really all tend, as dog owners and even non-dog owners, to anthropomorphize - to project our human emotions and feelings and thoughts onto other animals in order to explain their behavior. Professor ALEXANDRA HOROWITZ (Bernard College): Happy Thanksgiving.ĬONAN: And you argue that it's almost always wrong to read human emotions into a dog's behavior? Alexandra Horowitz is a professor of animal behavior, comparative cognition and psychology at Columbia University's Barnard College in New York City, and joins us today from the studios of the radio foundation in New York. Email us, You can also join the conversation on our Web site, that's at npr.org.
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How do you know what's you dog is thinking or what he or she wants? Tell us your story. The address is But first, inside of a dog. Later in the program, we want you to share the story about somebody who will not be around the table with you today. Well, that's because he loves you, right? Well, probably not - says cognitive scientist Alexandra Horowitz in her new book, �Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know.� Horowitz explores what we really do know about dogs, what we think we know and why we're so often wrong. If you live with a dog, you probably think you know your pooch pretty well -the guilty face when you catch her snacking from the garbage can or chewing up your shoes, the sad face when you head out the door to work, and those wet sloppy kisses when you get home.
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This is TALK OF THE NATION and Happy Thanksgiving.