This is why your dog can maniuplate you

The Barbarian

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Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

Two specialized muscles give them a range of expression that wolves’ eyes lack.


Dogs, more so than almost any other domesticated species, are desperate for human eye contact. When raised around people, they begin fighting for our attention when they’re as young as four weeks old. It’s hard for most people to resist a petulant flash of puppy-dog eyes—and according to a new study, that pull on the heartstrings might be exactly why dogs can give us those looks at all.

A paper published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that dogs’ faces are structured for complex expression in a way that wolves’ aren’t, thanks to a special pair of muscles framing their eyes. These muscles are responsible for that “adopt me” look that dogs can pull by raising their inner eyebrows. It’s the first biological evidence scientists have found that domesticated dogs might have evolved a specialized ability used expressly to communicate better with humans.

For the study, a team at the University of Portsmouth’s Dog Cognition Centre looked at two muscles that work together to widen and open a dog’s eyes, causing them to appear bigger, droopier, and objectively cuter. The retractor anguli oculi lateralis muscle and the levator anguli oculi medialis muscle (mercifully known as RAOL and LAOM) form two short, straight lines, which connect the ring of muscle around a dog’s eye to either end of the brow above.
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That suggested the movement is to some degree voluntary. On our side of these longing glances, research has also shown that when dogs work these muscles, humans respond more positively. And both man and mutt benefit from a jolt of oxytocin when locked in on each other.
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In this case, those eyebrow-raising muscles do appear to be an addition to dogs’ anatomy. In the four gray wolves the researchers looked at, neither muscle was present. (They did find bundles of fibers that could be the precursors to the RAOL and LAOM.) In five of the six breeds of dogs the researchers looked at, both muscles were fully formed and strong; in the Siberian husky, the wolflike, oldest breed of the group, the researchers were unable to locate a RAOL.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science...-eye-muscles/591868/?utm_source=pocket-newtab
 

annabenedetti

like marbles on glass
When my dog would lay her head on my lap and look up at me with those puppy dog eyes while I ate my lunch... did I give her a bite?

Yes. Yes I did... every time. How I loved that dog. :cloud9:
 

The Barbarian

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"objectively cuter" :rotfl:

Yep. It's pretty much mathematical.

First quantified by Konrad Lorenz. It's why, for example, dogs will adopt kittens, and cats will adopt puppies.

Works with birds, too...

14299734959_bba1532409_b.jpg
 

Rusha

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When my dog would lay her head on my lap and look up at me with those puppy dog eyes while I ate my lunch... did I give her a bite?

Yes. Yes I did... every time. How I loved that dog. :cloud9:

Not only do I feed mine while eating a meal, I actually go to the fridge to get them a treat just because of those puppy eyes.
 

The Barbarian

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Barbarian observes:
Yep. It's pretty much mathematical.

(suggestion that math is not "objective.")

I feel like the guy who said said he doesn't steal because it's dishonest, and someone says "you have a fun idea of honesty."


False equivocation....


Depends on how you feel about math, I suppose.

just like you use for your "theory of evolution".

Depends on how you feel about evidence, I suppose.

"Evidence for not just one but for all three of the species level and above types of stratomorphic intermediates expected by macroevolutionary theory is surely strong evidence for macroevolutionary theory. Creationists therefore need to accept this fact."
YE creationist Kurt Wise, Toward a Creationist Understanding of Transitional Forms
 

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Barbarian observes:
Yep. It's pretty much mathematical.

(suggestion that math is not "objective.")

I feel like the guy who said said he doesn't steal because it's dishonest, and someone says "you have a fun idea of honesty."
Math is fine... some peoples non-objective math models are a different story.
 

The Barbarian

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Math is fine... some peoples non-objective math models are a different story.

If you step back and think about what you wrote, you'd probably realize that it isn't a very good argument.

There's a lot of research on this, and it's all very well-supported:


Infant Behav Dev. 2018 Nov;53:90-100. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2018.08.001.
Exploring the morphological and emotional correlates of infant cuteness.
Almanza-Sepúlveda ML, Dudin A, Wonch KE, Steiner M, Feinberg DR5\, Fleming AS, Hall GB.
Abstract
Ethologists have observed that "baby schema" or infant cuteness is an adaptive protective mechanism ensuring the young's survival. Past efforts to quantify cuteness have been restricted to line measurement techniques. We developed a novel data-driven approach to quantify infant cuteness into a single metric. Using the Psychomorph program, we delineated facial elements of 72 infant pictures using 206 facial points and identified the facial components that were significantly related to subjective cuteness perceptions of the faces. 108 nulliparous females rated the pictures on cuteness and emotional dimensions. We found that cuter infants have larger cephalic curvature compared to a smaller chin, a big smile, and round chubby features among others. We also investigated the relationship between cuteness and emotional responses. Our results show that a greater degree of cuteness elicits both increased positive emotional responses and decreased negative emotional responses. Cuter infants also elicited greater feelings of alertness, interest, and the need to respond. In fact, the participants' emotional responses were predictive of both data-driven scores and subjective perceptions of cuteness.
 

Stripe

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:rotfl:

Reminds me of the time one Darwinist heard a bird chirping differently from others and said: "See?! Evolution!"
 

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If you step back and think about what you wrote, you'd probably realize that it isn't a very good argument.

There's a lot of research on this, and it's all very well-supported:


Infant Behav Dev. 2018 Nov;53:90-100. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2018.08.001.
Exploring the morphological and emotional correlates of infant cuteness.
Almanza-Sepúlveda ML, Dudin A, Wonch KE, Steiner M, Feinberg DR5\, Fleming AS, Hall GB.
Abstract
Ethologists have observed that "baby schema" or infant cuteness is an adaptive protective mechanism ensuring the young's survival. Past efforts to quantify cuteness have been restricted to line measurement techniques. We developed a novel data-driven approach to quantify infant cuteness into a single metric. Using the Psychomorph program, we delineated facial elements of 72 infant pictures using 206 facial points and identified the facial components that were significantly related to subjective cuteness perceptions of the faces. 108 nulliparous females rated the pictures on cuteness and emotional dimensions. We found that cuter infants have larger cephalic curvature compared to a smaller chin, a big smile, and round chubby features among others. We also investigated the relationship between cuteness and emotional responses. Our results show that a greater degree of cuteness elicits both increased positive emotional responses and decreased negative emotional responses. Cuter infants also elicited greater feelings of alertness, interest, and the need to respond. In fact, the participants' emotional responses were predictive of both data-driven scores and subjective perceptions of cuteness.
Funny stuff
 
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