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Mental representation and episodic-like memory of own actions in dogs.

ABSTRACT: We investigated whether dogs remember their spontaneous past actions relying on episodic-like memory. Dogs were trained to repeat a small set of actions upon request. Then we tested them on their ability to repeat other actions produced by themselves, including actions performed spontaneously in everyday situations. Dogs repeated their own actions after delays ranging from a few seconds to 1?hour, with their performance showing a decay typical of episodic memory. The combined evidence of representing own actions and using episodic-like memory to recall them suggests a far more complex representation of a key feature of the self than previously attributed to dogs. Our method is applicable to various species, paving the way for comparative investigations on the evolution and complexity of self-representation.

SUBMITTER: Fugazza C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7320188 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mental representation and episodic-like memory of own actions in dogs.

Fugazza Claudia C Pongrácz Péter P Pogány Ákos Á Lenkei Rita R Miklósi Ádám Á

Scientific reports 20200626 1

We investigated whether dogs remember their spontaneous past actions relying on episodic-like memory. Dogs were trained to repeat a small set of actions upon request. Then we tested them on their ability to repeat other actions produced by themselves, including actions performed spontaneously in everyday situations. Dogs repeated their own actions after delays ranging from a few seconds to 1 hour, with their performance showing a decay typical of episodic memory. The combined evidence of represe ...[more]

PMID: 32591620

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