Children Smarter Than Dogs Essay

I chose to answer the question “are pre-linguistic human infants smarter than dogs” because I was interested in learning why or why not parents would think that their child is, or isn’t smarter than dogs. It’s a touchy subject with multiple different viewpoints. Those without children, may think their dogs are smarter, and those without dogs, may think their children are smarter. Everyone defines intelligence different, and intelligence can be defined differently in humans and dogs.

My soon to be sister-in-law has two daughters ages two and seven, so I thought she would be a good person to interview. With having two children, and having a five-year age gap between the two, I thought she would be a good candidate. I figured she could discuss

When anyone would address them by name, they would look directly at them, and acknowledge that they were being spoken to, at only a few months old. According to the text, “long before they being to learn words, infants can make fine distinctions among the sounds of language” (pg. 178). Both these children were able to recognize the same sound being produced, and were able to respond. She went on to talk about, that even when someone calls a dog by name, they may not always respond or acknowledge that they are being spoken to, but her children do. Another example that she gave was both children always laughed and smiled, whenever someone made funny faces, or spoke with a funny tone of voice. They noticed a change in tone of voice, and could distinguish when someone was happy, upset, or even mad. A final example that she gave, was both children, but her youngest could recognize family member the more they were around, and would put their arms out to be held by those specific family members. She could make the connection of those family members who were constantly around, and wanted to be by