Cats are known for their indifferent attitude towards people: any breeder of cats can attest that these pussies ignore us when we call them by name. However, a study published the other day in Scientific Reports shows that domestic cats recognize their own names - even if they go away during the call, or ignore it.
Will the cat recognize its name?
Atsuko Saito, a behavioral researcher at the University of Tokyo, has previously shown that cats can recognize the voices of their owners. In her latest research, she narrowed it down by finding out if they answer the sound of their name. The study included 78 cats from the Japanese "cat cafe". (Cafés where diners can play with furry animals are popular in Tokyo and have begun to gain popularity in London and New York.)
In their experiments, Saito and her colleagues used what behavioral psychologists call the habit-dyshabitation method. It includes repeated exposure of subjects with a stimulus (in this case, pronouncing a word) until the subject ceases to show any reaction. Then the subject is given a test stimulus (in this case, his name) and the scientists observe the response. This step helps eliminate reactions to random stimuli.
In a new study, researchers first forced cat owners to repeat four words that were similar to their cat's name until the cats got used to the words. Then the owners gave their real names and scientists tried to see if individual cats (if they lived among other cats) could respond to the call. It was found that cats show a more pronounced reaction to their own names - moving their ears, tails, heads or meowing - than to similar words or names of other cats.
The scientists then asked people unfamiliar with cats to pronounce their names to see if the cats recognized them. Although their reactions were less visible in relationships with strangers, they still recognized their names after getting used to other words.
"This new study clearly shows that many cats respond to their own names as spoken by their owners," said biologist John Bradshaw, who studies human-animal interactions at the Institute of Antrozoology at the University of Bristol. However, Bradshaw expresses doubt that cats can recognize their names when they are spoken by a stranger. “I think it may well be that some cats are capable of generalizing words spoken by different human voices, but here I would like to see more trials before I say the evidence is compelling,” he says.
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Saito says she thinks the cats are learning to recognize their names because of what is behind them. “I think cats associate their names with some kind of reward or punishment and hardly realize that their names are attached to them. There is no evidence that cats are capable of self-awareness as we are, so the recognition of their names is different from ours. However, in her opinion, cats can be taught to recognize other words. But whether they will readily respond to commands - as dogs do - is another question.
Ilya Khel
