New Study Links Separation Anxiety With Optimism

optimism, Science - By Staff Writer on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - 11:40

While we like to think our dogs understand us and feel just as much as we do, we are not so sure about this new study that Time Magazine is reporting on. According to Time

According to researchers at the University of Bristol and University of Lincoln in the U.K., dogs that exhibit "separation-related behavior" (SRB) may be inherently pessimistic pooches.

The study was conducted by teaching dogs that a bowl placed on one side of the room was half empty and one on the other was half full. Once they learned that, the researchers moved a full bowl to a new location. If a dog did not go to the bowl assuming it was empty they were labeled pessimistic and if they went to it they were optimistic.

They then took all their data and compared it to the dogs separation anxiety levels and supposedly found a correlation. While were no scientists we are pretty sure there might have been more going on than just optimism on the part of the dogs. And since when did Time Magazine turn into such fluff?

Full Article [TIME]

Tags: optimism, Science