Cats Are Capable Of Associating Words With Images Faster Than Human Babies: No Training Or Rewards Required
Just like human babies, cats can pick up basic words by listening to people talk. Cats can also learn to associate images with words even faster than babies, according to a new study. It may not look like it, but our feline friends can actually understand what we’re saying.
A team of animal scientists from Azabu University in Japan has found that common house cats can associate human words with images without the need for training or reward.
In the study, they tested volunteer cats by having them look at images on a computer screen to see if they could make connections between the pictures and spoken words.
In the past, research has revealed a lot about how cats respond to human language. For example, in 2019, researchers in Tokyo proved that cats know when a human is speaking their name.
They respond by moving their heads and ears in a specific way that is different from when they hear other words. Additionally, an experiment in 2022 demonstrated that cats are able to “match” photos of their human family members to their names.
To find out if cats truly have the ability to match words and objects with each other, the research team gave 31 adult pet cats a word test that was originally designed for human babies.
The test involved being shown short animations. The researchers set each kitty in front of a laptop and showed them two animated cartoon images that stayed on screen for nine seconds.
While the image was displayed, the researchers broadcast audio tracks of their caregivers saying a nonsensical word four times.
The made-up word “keraru” was played at the same time a growing and shrinking blue-and-white unicorn appeared on screen. When a growing and shrinking red-faced cartoon sun appeared, the word “parumo” was played.
Evrymmnt – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual cat
The cats watched and listened to the videos until they lost interest. Their boredom was signaled by a 50 percent decrease in eye contact with the screen.
After giving the animals a short break, the team placed them in front of the screens once again and ran the same two images four more times. But during this round, half the images were shown with the wrong word audio—parumo for the unicorn and keraru for the sun.
The researchers noticed that the cats spent 33 percent more time staring at the screen than during the first broadcast.
“Some cats even gazed at the screen with their pupils dilated during the ‘switched’ condition,” said Saho Takagi, a comparative cognitive scientist at Azabu University. “It was cute to see how seriously they participated in the experiment.”
These were signs that the cats were confused by the reversal of spoken words and were trying hard to find an explanation. It is evidence that the cats had associated the words with the images even when no reward was offered.
The finding suggests that cats pay attention to what humans say and associate words with objects in their environment.
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
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