Dogs Mimic Their Pals’ Playful Behaviors

In people, chimpanzees, orangutans and other primates, emotional contagion is linked to facial mimicry, a fast automatic response where they involuntarily mimic others' expressions. As such, researchers wanted to see if dogs also experienced rapid mimicry. "I think that natural conditions are extremely important if we want to reveal a phenomenon as really it is," said study lead author Elisabetta Palagi, a sociobiologist at the University of Pisa in Italy.