(单词翻译:单击)
Surprise! Your Dog Can Tell If You Are Happy Or Angry
家犬可以分辨人类喜怒哀乐
While every dog owner knows that their pooch can discern their moods perfectly, scientists have always been a little skeptical. Now thanks to some researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria, we finally have some tangible evidence.
虽然每个狗狗的主人都认为他们的宝贝可以察觉自己的心情，科学家总会对此产生质疑。现在，通过奥地利维也纳兽医大学的研究，我们终于找到了一些确凿证据。
For their study, biologist Corsin Müller and his team selected eleven dogs, including nine Border Collies, a Fox Terrier, and a Sheltie. They began by exposing the dogs to digital images of women that were either angry or happy. Half the dogs were rewarded for touching the screen when shown a happy face, while the other half got their treat for selecting those that appeared angry.
在他们的研究中，生物学家Corsin Müller和他的研究小组挑选了11只狗，其中包括9只边境牧羊犬，一只猎狐梗和一只德国牧羊犬。最开始，他们给狗狗展示或悲或喜的女性电子版图像，然后把狗狗分成两组，一组成功触摸到开心表情的狗狗会获得奖励，而另一组选择愤怒表情的狗狗才会获得奖励。。
What was interesting was the pooches were not provided with the entire face. Some dogs were shown only upper halves while others observed lower halves. That's because the scientists who published their findings in the journal Current Biology on February 12th, believe that humans show their emotions on their entire face. Hence by exposing them to just partial expressions the researchers were teaching the dogs to recognize small nuances like the wrinkle between the eyes or the changes in their shape that accompany the happy or angry expressions.
有趣的是，他们只给狗狗看一部分脸。有些狗狗只能看到上半边脸，而另一些则看到下半边。因为这项研究2月12日在《当代生物学》上发表的文章提过，人们整张脸都会流露出他们的感情。因此，给狗狗展示部分图像，意在训练它们察觉人面部表情的细节，比如眼角的褶皱或者眼睛形状的变化与开心或者愤怒的表情总相伴而来。
While the dogs were able to grasp both emotions, the researchers found that those being trained to read angry expressions took longer to learn. They speculate it may be because dogs find angry faces aversive, causing them to retreat quickly.
虽然最后受训的狗狗都能顺利分辨出人的表情，科学家们发现分辨愤怒的表情对狗狗来说还是要花些时间的。他们认为这可能是因为狗对生气的脸有负面联想。
Given the close bond between dogs and their owners, most researchers are not surprised at the findings of the study. The one thing they are not sure of is how this expression discerning ability is affected if the dog does not have close human contact. And in case you are wondering, the team does plan on conducting similar studies on cats and even pigs and hand-raised wolves. So stay tuned to see if your beloved pet is as smart as dogs are!
狗和它们的主人素来比较亲密，大多数科学家对此调查结果并没有大惊小怪。不过他们还是不确定那些与人类没有亲密接触的狗狗是否有这种能力。科学家和我们一样好奇，他们已经计划在猫、猪和人工饲养的狼身上进行类似实验了。所以，让我们关注后续实验，看看是否其他宠物跟狗狗一样聪明。
译文属可可英语原创，仅供学习和交流使用，未经许可，请勿转载。
