Researchers from Japan have concluded after their experiment that cats associated the names of their companions with their faces without training, NDTV reported.
The researchers from Kyoto University made 48 cats a part of their experiment. All of these cats had lived with at least two other pets, while 19 had lived in a family home and 29 in a cat cafe.
Two experiments were conducted to study cats’ cognitive abilities. In the first experiment, the cats were saw the photo of a feline they lived with.
Their responses to these images was tracked whenever a name was called. Scientists said that if the cat stared longer at the photo, it meant it was familiar with the pictured animal’s real name.
“Household cats paid attention to the monitor for longer when the wrong name was called, indicating an ‘expectancy violation effect’,” the researchers wrote in the study, which has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The second experiment was conducted with 26 cats who were shown pictures of their owners or their own. It was found that felines had stronger connection with fellow cats than with humans. However, the ability to learn the owner’s name was clear.
“This study provides evidence that cats link a companion’s name and corresponding face without explicit training,” the experts said in the study.—AP
