If you think cats don't actually care about humans, think again. A study from PLOS One, reported by The Animal Rescue Site, says that cats keep mental tabs on their humans while at home.
A group of scientists from Kyoto University found that cats use context clues within the home to determine where their owners are, even if they're in a completely different room.
The experiment that led to this finding saw researchers recording the voices of cat owners calling out their pets' names, along with other sounds like the voices of strangers and of other cats. Then, scientists observed the reactions of the cats while playing the sounds.
According to the report, cats were most surprised when hearing their owner's voice. The surprise is increased because they already saw the owner leave the room, so hearing the familiar voice doesn't make sense to the animal. Researchers say the cat's surprise reaction implies that cats create a mental map of where their people are at all times.
“Results showed that cats were surprised when their owner appeared to be ‘teleported’ to a new, unexpected location, but they did not react in the same way when tested with non-social stimuli," reads the report. "These results suggest that cats hold a mental representation of the unseen owner and map their owner’s location from the owner’s voice, showing evidence of socio-spatial cognition.”
All you cat lovers out there may want to know that there's a live-action Garfield movie in the works, starring everyone's favorite Monday-hating cat. The iconic character will be voiced by Chris Pratt, which in addition to his role as Super Mario, has the internet wondering who he'll voice next.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Continue reading...
A group of scientists from Kyoto University found that cats use context clues within the home to determine where their owners are, even if they're in a completely different room.
The experiment that led to this finding saw researchers recording the voices of cat owners calling out their pets' names, along with other sounds like the voices of strangers and of other cats. Then, scientists observed the reactions of the cats while playing the sounds.
According to the report, cats were most surprised when hearing their owner's voice. The surprise is increased because they already saw the owner leave the room, so hearing the familiar voice doesn't make sense to the animal. Researchers say the cat's surprise reaction implies that cats create a mental map of where their people are at all times.
“Results showed that cats were surprised when their owner appeared to be ‘teleported’ to a new, unexpected location, but they did not react in the same way when tested with non-social stimuli," reads the report. "These results suggest that cats hold a mental representation of the unseen owner and map their owner’s location from the owner’s voice, showing evidence of socio-spatial cognition.”
All you cat lovers out there may want to know that there's a live-action Garfield movie in the works, starring everyone's favorite Monday-hating cat. The iconic character will be voiced by Chris Pratt, which in addition to his role as Super Mario, has the internet wondering who he'll voice next.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
Continue reading...