The abstract concept of sameness forms the basis of higher-order cognitive operations, including mathematics and language. Historically believed to be unique to humans, evidence of abstract-concept learning in recent decades has been demonstrated in a range of phylogenetically diverse species, indicating that the ability to judge sameness relations is a general process resulting from convergent evolution. However, to date, no research has demonstrated evidence of such learning in any canid species. We trained domestic dogs (n = 6) on a two-choice olfactory matching-to-sample task using a training set of 48 odors in trial-unique sessions. Upon meeting an acquisition criterion (two consecutive sessions ≥ 83% correct), we assessed abstract-concept learning by testing for transfer to novel odors. Dogs matched novel odors with above-chance accuracy and exceeded baseline levels, satisfying previously proposed criteria for full abstract-concept learning. Our findings provide the first evidence of MTS concept learning in dogs, illustrating qualitative similarities with other species. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

---

狗的匹配到样本抽象概念学习（犬类）。

相同的抽象概念构成了高阶认知运算的基础，包括数学和语言。历史上认为是人类独有的，近几十年来抽象概念学习的证据已在一系列系统发育不同的物种中得到证明，这表明判断相同关系的能力是趋同进化产生的一般过程。然而，迄今为止，还没有任何研究证明任何犬科动物具有这种学习能力。我们使用 48 种气味的训练集在独特的试验课程中对家犬（n = 6）进行了两项选择的嗅觉匹配样本任务。在满足习得标准后（连续两个会话 ≥ 83% 正确），我们通过测试转移到新气味来评估抽象概念学习。狗以高于机会的准确度匹配新的气味并超过基线水平，满足先前提出的完整抽象概念学习标准。我们的发现提供了狗 MTS 概念学习的第一个证据，说明了与其他物种的定性相似性。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。