Article Summary

This summer, while at Brown University in Rhode Island, USA, I attended a course on animal psychology taught by PhD students who run the Brown Dog Lab. The experience introduced me to how scientists investigate interspecies cognition through carefully designed behavioural experiments. During the course, I observed how researchers measure animal intelligence through structured tasks rather than assumptions about what animals think or feel. I later participated in this process myself by running cognition activities with my own dog, Winston. The work required careful attention to experimental design, including standardising instructions, recording responses objectively, and resisting the temptation to overinterpret behaviours such as a wag or glance. The experience strengthened my interest in animal cognition research and highlighted how much we still have to learn about how animals perceive and interpret the world around them.

Main Article

Why I went to Brown in the first place

I’ve always been drawn to the question that sits underneath so many everyday moments with animals: what is actually happening in their minds? It’s an easy question to ask and a surprisingly hard one to answer, because “cognition” can mean almost anything. Dogs can seem guilty, birds can seem strategic, and even a snail can appear to learn, but our assumptions are not evidence. That is what made my time with the Brown Dog Lab so exciting. The lab does something that sounds simple but is actually quite difficult: it takes big questions about animals such as:

• How do they learn?
• Do they reason?
• Do they understand us?

and turns them into experiments where behaviour can be measured and compared. I arrived at Brown already fascinated by animal cognition and human–animal interaction, and with a growing research background, but I wanted to see what it was like to work in the field. I had previously spent time at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory in Maine working on CRISPR gene editing in E. coli bacteria, and I had written a research paper on AI decoding whale language (which I hope to publish soon). But Brown was the place where I learned how to think like a researcher: how to explore ideas with curiosity and discipline, and how to frame questions research can actually answer.

What the Brown Dog Lab is trying to understand

The Brown Dog Lab focuses on canine cognition: how dogs learn, how they solve problems, and how they use social information. The aim is to understand how dogs make sense of the world, both the physical world of objects and puzzles, and the social world of humans and other dogs. The research often looks like short interactive games designed to be engaging for both dog and owner. A dog might need to figure out how to get treats from a container, decide between different options, or respond to social cues such as a human pointing gesture or a demonstration of how something works. What makes it research is that the tasks are carefully structured so that the dog’s behaviour can be recorded systematically. The lab repeatedly returned to one core idea: we cannot measure intelligence directly, but we can infer mental processes from patterns in behaviour if the experiment is designed carefully enough.

The first lesson: why careful experimental design matters

One of the most important ideas I took away from the course was how easily humans can misread animals. Humans are naturally wired to interpret facial expressions, gestures, and emotions in other people, so we instinctively do the same with animals. Sometimes that helps us connect with them, but sometimes it leads to misleading interpretations. In the lab, you have to work against those instincts. A dog looking away might be distracted, uncertain, stressed, or simply bored. Even behaviours that seem obvious can be deceptive. For example, a wagging tail, often assumed to signal happiness, can also indicate stress or uncertainty. The goal is not to strip animals of emotion or individuality, but to avoid claiming more than the evidence supports. This is why good research relies on controls, standardisation, and where possible, blinding. Blinding means that the person recording the results does not know which outcome they expect to see. If you anticipate a certain result, you might unconsciously give subtle cues such as changes in tone, pauses, or gestures. For dogs, which are highly sensitive to human signals, even small cues can influence behaviour.

The second lesson: dogs are excellent social learners

Dogs are fascinating subjects because their social world overlaps closely with our own. They live in human homes, attend closely to our faces and movements, and often rely on human guidance to make decisions. This makes them an ideal species for studying interspecies communication. However, it is easy to overinterpret what dogs understand. Dogs can follow pointing gestures, respond to tone of voice, and learn from demonstrations, but this does not necessarily mean they understand situations in the same way humans do. Two dogs might follow a gesture for completely different reasons. One might have learned that pointing predicts a reward, while another might simply be curious about what the human is doing. From the outside, the behaviours look identical. At Brown, I learned to hold two ideas at once: dogs are sophisticated learners, but we must remain cautious about what any single experiment proves about their understanding.

What it felt like to become a ‘canine cognition experimenter’ with Winston

The most personal part of the experience involved participating in citizen science cognition studies with my own dog, Winston. Winston is a central part of our family life, and bringing him into a research context felt like discovering a new dimension of our relationship. The lab runs studies both in person on the Brown campus and remotely through video calls. In the virtual format, a researcher guides the owner through the task while observing closely. The owner’s role is to follow instructions precisely, maintain a consistent setup, and allow the dog to make choices without influence. This proved more difficult than expected. When Winston hesitated, I instinctively wanted to encourage him. When he made an unexpected choice, I wanted to react or correct him. When he solved a problem quickly, I wanted to celebrate. Being a good experimenter meant resisting those impulses and maintaining neutrality. It also meant understanding that the dog is never “failing” the experiment. Unexpected behaviour simply provides more data. It might reflect attention, motivation, the clarity of the cue, or the design of the task itself. Over time, I realised how many variables researchers must control: where treats are placed, which hand is used, how long the pause is, whether eye contact is visible, and even how the handler’s posture changes. I developed a much deeper appreciation for how challenging replicable behavioural research can be. What surprised me most was how engaged Winston became. When tasks are well designed, dogs treat them as games. This is part of the ethical strength of the approach: the experience is stimulating and enjoyable for the dog as well as informative for researchers. At the end of the programme, Winston even received his own diploma from Brown, which now hangs proudly above his bed.

How this connects to my broader research interests

My interest in cognition extends beyond dogs. My work on whale communication has led me to think about social learning and communication in species where controlled experiments are extremely difficult. In the ocean, observation is limited and animals spend much of their lives out of view. This makes careful inference from behaviour even more important. My molecular biology experience at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory also shaped how I think about research. Working with CRISPR required precision, protocol discipline, and careful interpretation of results. I did not expect those skills to transfer so directly into behavioural science, but they did. In both fields, conclusions must never outrun the evidence. The Brown Dog Lab experience helped connect these interests. It showed me how to ask ambitious questions while still designing experiments that can produce reliable answers.

Why this matters for the National School Dog Alliance community

For people working with dogs in schools, therapy programmes, or community settings, cognition research has practical value. Understanding how dogs interpret human cues, how they learn, and what signals they attend to can inform training, improve welfare, and reduce misunderstandings that might place dogs under stress. As dogs become increasingly present in educational and public environments, understanding their perspective becomes more important than ever.

What I’m taking forward

By the end of the summer, I felt much clearer about the direction I want to pursue. I want to continue exploring animal cognition research while maintaining a strong commitment to rigorous experimental design and ethical responsibility. Animal cognition research is not about proving animals are clever. It is about learning how to ask questions in ways that animals can meaningfully answer, and being open to the possibility that their answers may differ from our expectations.

Key takeaways

• Animal cognition research investigates how animals learn, reason, and interpret the world.
• The Brown Dog Lab studies canine cognition using structured behavioural experiments.
• Humans often misinterpret animal behaviour, making careful experimental design essential.
• Working with my dog Winston demonstrated the importance of neutrality and avoiding bias.
• The experience strengthened my interest in research on animal communication and welfare.

Keywords

Animal cognition, canine cognition, behavioural experiments, social learning, experimental design, human–animal interaction, observer bias, animal communication

Reflection points

1. In therapy or school contexts, how can we distinguish a dog’s willingness to comply from genuine comfort and engagement?
2. When interpreting a dog’s behaviour, what assumptions might we be making?
3. How might human signals such as tone, posture, or timing influence a dog’s response?
4. What would it look like to design a “fair question” that a dog can answer without stress or confusion?

Glossary

Comparative cognition The scientific study of thinking and learning across different species. Conditioning Learning through associations or consequences. Experimental control Design features that limit alternative explanations for observed results. Blinding A method used to reduce bias by ensuring observers do not know the expected outcome. Social cue Information communicated through behaviour, such as gestures or pointing. Inference Drawing conclusions about internal processes based on observable behaviour. Animal welfare The physical and psychological wellbeing of animals.

Further reading

• Brown Alumni Magazine – Canine Cognition Lab
• Brown Pre-College Course: Psychology Across Species
• Brown Dog Lab research publications