Hungry dogs are generally expected to choose to eat more food instead of less, but researchers have recently shown that dogs, like humans may sometimes display a ‘less is more’ effect. The study was done by Thomas Zentall and Kristina Pattison of the University of Kentucky in the US.

For this study, the researchers tested feeding string cheese and baby carrots to ten dogs. When the dogs were given a choice between baby carrot and cheese or just a slice of cheese, nine out of the ten dogs went for the cheese alone, thus choosing less food over more.

The ‘less is more’ effect is a metal shortcut where there is a greater preference for quality over quantity when looking at options. In this study, the dogs seemingly assessed the quality of the cheese and carrot combination instead of merely assessing the quantity. Humans first demonstrated this sort of quick decision making, followed by monkeys. For instance, monkeys have been reported to prefer a grape over a combination of one grape and a slice of cucumber when they were given a choice.

According to the researchers, this paradoxical choice may occur because judging the average quality is easier to do than judging the overall quantity in many cases where rapid decisions need to be made. In such instances, the ‘less is more’ effect and other quick solution-driven heuristics may come in handy.

Pattison noted, “The present research indicates that the less is more effect is not unique to humans and other primates but can occur in other mammalian species, at least those that are socially organized such as carnivores like wolves, dogs and jackals.”