Ideas

Do dogs feel guilt? Scientists exchange discoveries about animal cognition

Animals — what on earth are they thinking? A panel of scientists explore the notion of animal cognition from what your dog means when it wags its tail, to the incredible problem-solving skills of crows, as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival.

Experts explore the minds of dogs and birds as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival

 A brown boxer dog with a white snout is peaking out of a bright green wall looking concerned. The bright green is also in the background.
According to dog cognition scientist Alexandra Horowitz, the guilty look that canines give their owners is not necessarily an expression of guilt. She calls this 'an expression of appeasement' as the dog is reacting to the anger of the owner. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images )

*Originally published on November 5, 2021.

Have you ever looked down at your beloved family dog and thought: what on earth are you thinking?

Alexandra Horowitz certainly has. She's a dog cognition scientist and the author of Inside of a Dog. 

At the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado, Horowitz joined other scientists and authors to discuss the most extraordinary recent findings related to the minds of dogs and birds. 

Watch Horowitz explain how she tested if dogs that give owners a 'guilty look' actually feel guilty:

For more information about the events at the Aspen Ideas Festival:


Guests in this episode:

Alexandra Horowitz is a dog cognition scientist and professor at Barnard College of Columbia University. She's also the author of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know.

Brian Hare is the founder of the Dognition Lab and professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University.

Jennifer Ackerman is the author of The Genius of Birds and The Bird Way. 

Alex Taylor directs the New Caledonian Crow Lab at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.  
 


*This episode was produced by Melissa Gismondi, with help from Chris Wodskou and Tom Howell. 

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