Dogs Predict EQs, Abstract
Posted by cal on November 21, 2006 at 10:29:07:

Stanley Coren, Ph.D., a well-known author and psychologist... Evidently, he showed the cover of my book, The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes, while delivering this presentation:

Here is the abstract for paper number 84, presented by Stanley Coren at the
47th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society in Houston Texas.

"Can Dogs Predict Earthquakes? A Possible Auditory Answer. STANLEY COREN,
University of British Columbia - Since the first such report in 373 BC in
Greece, there has been a widespread belief that dogs and other animals can
predict disasters, such as earthquakes. The occurrence of 6.8 magnitude
earthquake in the Pacific Northwest during a long-term study looking at
activity and emotional changes in dogs as a function of weather allowed
exploration of this question. Forty-one percent of 193 dogs showed a marked
increase in activity level and apparent distress the day before the
earthquake. Hearing-impaired dogs did not appear to anticipate the event.
Dogs with floppy ears, which slightly raised hearing thresholds, were less
likely to be responsive. Dogs with smaller head size (with lower thresholds
for high frequencies) were more likely to anticipate the earthquake. This
suggests that high-frequency sounds of underground rocks breaking or
scraping that are beyond the human hearing range may be the signal that dogs
are responding to."



Follow Ups:
     ● what is the hypothesis, exactly? - John Vidale  19:53:55 - 11/21/2006  (60398)  (3)
        ● Re: Coren's Paper: what is the hypothesis, exactly? - cal  10:56:45 - 11/22/2006  (60415)  (1)
           ● Re: Coren's Paper:, Part 2 - cal  11:00:01 - 11/22/2006  (60416)  (1)
              ● Re: Coren's Paper:, Part 3 - cal  11:02:59 - 11/22/2006  (60417)  (1)
                 ● that's one implausible theory - John Vidale  18:05:42 - 11/22/2006  (60427)  (1)
                    ● just to be clear - John Vidale  18:07:37 - 11/22/2006  (60428)  (0)
        ● big ears - heartland chris  06:41:28 - 11/22/2006  (60407)  (1)
           ● agreed - John Vidale  08:35:23 - 11/22/2006  (60411)  (0)
        ● Re: what is the hypothesis, exactly? - Cathryn  23:34:13 - 11/21/2006  (60400)  (0)