Dog’s Memory and Thinking

Dog’s Memory and Thinking

Dogs can remember random events in their past and possibly make future plans
A key component of cognition is memory. I have known for long that animals too
have memory. Without memory, dogs would not be able to associate commands that they are
given by humans with the different tasks that they need to perform. Multiple researches have
found that other animals, such as mice, dolphins, and elephants too possess similar memories
(Panko, 2016). For instance, chimpanzees can memorize words. The type of memory that is
commonly exhibited by dogs, chimpanzees, and other animals is semantic memory. It is the
memory that is used to recall information that one has consciously memorized or learned
(Panko, 2016). The other type of memory is episodic memory. It is memory that one uses to
recall past events and everyday experiences that have not been consciously memorized
(Panko, 2016). For instance, episodic memory helps one to recall how a shopping trip went.
It is impossible to think that animals too could have episodic memory. While a dog
can easily remember commands for different actions, it is hard to imagine a dog remembering
how it spent the previous day or what it did the previous week. That is why I was surprised to
read Ben Panko’s article in the Smithsonian Magazine titled “Dogs May Possess a Type of

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Memory Once Considered ‘Uniquely Human’”. According to the article, research conducted
on dogs has found that they are capable of performing actions that needed them to have
episodic memory because the actions required them to recall unexpected commands. This
means that in addition to semantic memory, animals may also possess episodic memory.
The revelation about dogs possessing episodic memory shows that animals have far
more complicated and advanced memory than was previously thought. Apart from recalling
random past events, they are probably also capable of planning their futures because the two
are related. Certainly, such possibilities need additional research. However, they cannot be
ruled out because there is still a lot that is yet to be known about cognition and memories of
animals.

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References

Panko, B. (2016, November 29). Dogs May Possess a Type of Memory Once Considered
‘Uniquely Human’. Smithsonian Magazine.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dogs-remember-more-than-we-
think-180961219/