This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Jason Goldman.Let’s say you have a dog. Or maybe you’re watching a friend’s pup.You have a treat in your hand, so you have the dog’s attention.Then you put the treat into a doggy-proof box and let them figure it out.What do you think the dog will do?If you’re a dog owner, you probably know.Spike or Spot or Ms. Fluffy will probably try in vain for a while.But soon they’ll probably turn back to you with those puppy dog eyes with a look that’s both hurt (why would you make it so hard for them after all?) and pleading.That, it turns out, is a sophisticated cognitive phenomenon called referential communication.It’s an attempt to shift the human’s attention toward the problem.And dogs, as it also turns out, aren’t the only species who can do this.In 2003, a Hungarian biologist named Adam Miklosi tested this ability with an experiment.He gathered a handful of dogs and a group of wolves.Both groups of canines had been hand raised from birth by people in much the same way.He put a piece of food inside of that doggy-proof box.The wolves kept trying and failing to get the food hidden inside.We already know what the dogs did.