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A comment on A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement.

Re:A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement by bitwize on Saturday December 29, 2018 @03:27PM (#18785506)
Maybe this is why dogs do it -- they figure out that it makes their human want to pet. feed, or play with them more. Animals are superb at reading cues from humans and adjusting their behavior accordingly.
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Re:A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement by cma on Saturday December 29, 2018 @03:53PM (#18785618)
> Canids tilt their heads to determine the vertical placement of a sound—how far up/down it is.

Human ears are shaped to cause frequency cutoffs that let us do vertical spatialization more easily without tilting our heads.

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Re:A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement by jasonszhao on Saturday December 29, 2018 @08:35PM (#18786807)
Smarter Every Day explains this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oai7HUqncAA

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Re:A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement by goldfeld on Saturday December 29, 2018 @07:51PM (#18786657)
What science won't say because of the subjectivity, which works for both human and animal is that a tilt of the head is an open emotional signal for contemplation, and can mean the subject is comfortable and even enjoying what they're looking at. It's seen as cute because often the subject itself is finding something to be cute, adorable. It can really send a strong but sophisticated sexual or affectual signal to look at someone like that, while the eyes will be the distinguishing factor between those two meanings.
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Re:A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement by clairity on Saturday December 29, 2018 @05:42PM (#18786132)
it's so cute when my dog does this (i immediately want to hug her to death), but i always saw it as just deeper interest and maybe a struggle to understand me, more than an invitation.

when my cat does it on the other hand i wonder what kind of mischievous he's cooking up.

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Re:A tilt of the head facilitates social engagement by iamdave on Saturday December 29, 2018 @06:16PM (#18786285)
when my cat does it on the other hand i wonder what kind of mischievous he's cooking up.

Heh same, I've observed when my cat strains his neck to tilt and lean, he's laser focused on something that's partially obscured, and then bolts across the room.

I've learned to let him go maul whatever ball of dust is tumbling across the floor in those moments.

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