科学美国人60秒 袋鼠也会像小狗一样恳求人类(1)

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Jason Goldman.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是杰森·戈德曼。

Let’s say you have a dog. Or maybe you’re watching a friend’s pup.

假设你有一只狗。也许你正在照看朋友的小狗。

You have a treat in your hand, so you have the dog’s attention.

你手中有美味食物，所以会引起狗的注意。

Then you put the treat into a doggy-proof box and let them figure it out.

然后你把食物放进防狗狗的盒子里，让它们自己琢磨。

What do you think the dog will do?

你认为狗会做什么?

If you’re a dog owner, you probably know.

如果你是狗的主人，可能会知道狗狗会做什么。

Spike or Spot or Ms. Fluffy will probably try in vain for a while.

斯派克、斯波特或是毛毛女士可能会尝试一会儿，却啥也没吃到。

But soon they’ll probably turn back to you with those puppy dog eyes with a look that’s both hurt (why would you make it so hard for them after all?) and pleading.

但很快它们就会转过头来，用那双小狗般的眼睛看着你，带着一种受伤的表情(究竟你为什么要让它们这么难过呢?) 并恳求你。

That, it turns out, is a sophisticated cognitive phenomenon called referential communication.

事实证明，那是一种复杂的认知现象，称为指称交流。

It’s an attempt to shift the human’s attention toward the problem.

这是试图将人们的注意力转移到问题上。

And dogs, as it also turns out, aren’t the only species who can do this.

事实证明，狗不是唯一可以做到这一点的物种。

In 2003, a Hungarian biologist named Adam Miklosi tested this ability with an experiment.

2003年，匈牙利生物学家亚当·米克洛斯用一项实验测试了这种能力。

He gathered a handful of dogs and a group of wolves.

他召集了一群狗和一群狼。

Both groups of canines had been hand raised from birth by people in much the same way.

这两组犬科动物从一出生就被人类用同样的方式进行人工饲养。

He put a piece of food inside of that doggy-proof box.

他在那只防狗狗的盒子里放了一块食物。

The wolves kept trying and failing to get the food hidden inside.

狼一直在尝试，但都没能找到藏在里面的食物。

We already know what the dogs did.

我们已经知道狗会做什么。

Alan McElligott, an animal cognition researcher at the City University of Hong Kong, wanted to push this test further.

香港城市大学动物认知研究人员艾伦·麦克埃尔利格特希望进一步推动这项测试。

He wanted to move beyond dogs versus wolves.

他不想仅仅局限于狗和狼的对比。

“The discussions of those papers, and the discussion in the press, was all about them being domesticated closely by humans.”

“这些论文的讨论以及新闻界的讨论都是关于它们被人类密切驯化的。”

He thinks that there’s more to this story.

他觉得这件事不止如此。

What if animals don’t need to be domesticated but instead simply need to be socialized?

如果动物不需要被驯化，而只是需要社会化呢?

Maybe it’s not that dogs are especially social but instead that wolves are just especially stubborn.

也许不是狗特别善于社交，而是狼特别固执。