Dogs Demonstrate Episodic-Like Memory

Photo: Anita Dilrukshi, via Wikimedia Commons. Distributed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

In humans, episodic memory refers to the recall of a specific autobiographical event – a memory of what happened, where it happened, and when it happened. It was initially assumed that episodic memory is unique to humans, but more recent evidence has brought that assumption into question.

Although we can’t know whether an animal travels back in time in their mind to subjectively remember specific events, like humans do, experiments have revealed memories for what-where-when in animals such as birds, rats, and nonhuman primates -- and now a new study suggests dogs should also join the club.

Read the whole story at my Animal Minds blog: Dogs Demonstrate Episodic-Like Memory.