About Claudia Fugazza
Claudia Fugazza is a researcher in cognitive ethology at the Department of Ethology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.
Her major fields of study are language learning and processing in dogs, social learning, imitation, and memory.
During her PhD she developed a training method called Do as I Do (named after Hayes & Hayes 1952 and Topál et al. 2006) which relies on dog’s imitative cognitive skills. This method is now used both as paradigm to study dogs’ cognitive abilities and for applied dog training purposes.
She is currently leading a project on language learning and processing in dogs. In this framework, she documented for the first time “talent” in a specific cognitive capacity in a non-human species: unlike typical dogs, Gifted Word Learner dogs learn hundreds of verbal labels referring to objects apparently without efforts. She is currently intrigued by the origins of this talent and by the possibilities it opens up for studying how language shapes our minds.
Program
Can Dogs Learn Words? Unlocking Your Dog’s Language-Learning Potential
Some dogs can learn the names of hundreds of objects simply through play with their owners. What makes these Gifted Word Learner dogs so special, and what can they teach us about how dogs learn from human speech?
In this seminar, we will explore fascinating discoveries from research on Gifted Word Learner dogs, revealing how dogs can learn new words, remember them for years, and even acquire them by overhearing conversations.
Language is a window into the mind. Dogs that learn words have helped us reveal how dogs represent the world and it has provided the opportunity to study cognitive skills that were otherwise elusive. Do dogs form mental categories? Can they learn relational concepts? Our discoveries revealed cognitive skills that are surprisingly complex!
I will also introduce an exciting new project investigating whether everyday interactions with our dogs, guided by principles from child language development, can help language-learning skills emerge.
Discover how to turn everyday play and communication into learning opportunities for your dog—and find out whether your dog’s vocabulary potential is greater than you think.
Saturday June 19 2027 from 10.00 – 17.00. Reception opens at 9.00.
Location
de HALL
Korenmolenlaan 4
3447 GG Woerden
Nederland
www.dehall.nl
Centrally located in the Netherlands, near Utrecht. Easily accessible and free parking. Within walking distance of Woerden train station.
Registratie
Please note the cancellation conditions (in Dutch) here.
