Saw a piece in the news, CNN video, about blind people being told by a GPS exactly what address they are at when they are walking. Seems a good use of technology.
That led me to a question:
Does the guide dog know the person is blind or does it just go along with what it thinks of as its training without knowing the purpose?
I doubt the guide dog has much of a representation of "blindness" or "sightedness" in its mental machinery. I would think the dog's probably just operating on classical conditioning, do what the trainer wants, get a treat, learn the association...
Of course, the dog may come to learn in time that he's better than the blind person at knowing what's coming, what to do when and so on, but I doubt he thinks much about why, or whether he "knows" what seeing is per se.
Originally posted by kyngjRec for your avatar.
I doubt the guide dog has much of a representation of "blindness" or "sightedness" in its mental machinery. I would think the dog's probably just operating on classical conditioning, do what the trainer wants, get a treat, learn the association...
Of course, the dog may come to learn in time that he's better than the blind person at knowing what's coming, w ...[text shortened]... on, but I doubt he thinks much about why, or whether he "knows" what seeing is per se.