Some Dogs Can Learn Categories Like Human Toddlers Do

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Elika Bergelson, a Harvard University language scientist who was not part of the new study, says human infants “mostly rely on how things look. But by 14 months they can also use role or function—for instance, telling apart who is chasing and who is being chased in a scenario—to extend words” to new things, much like the dogs in the study did. In everyday life, function and appearance usually go together: all cups share a basic shape because it makes them good at holding liquid. “Unlike the real world, where ropes look tug-worthy and balls appear throwable, this study isolates the function,” Bergelson says. “Taking away visual cues is a clean way to probe how categories might form across species.”

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