Feline Friends

Cats often maintain an independent streak, even in the company of their favorite human family members. They decide for themselves whether to come when called, curl up in a person’s lap, or accept an affectionate scratch on the chin. Sometimes, they may even act as if they’re ignoring the people around them—for example, a cat might appear not to notice when their owner speaks to them. But a new study suggests that cats may pay closer attention to people’s speech than they let on.

Cats often have an independent streak, even around their favorite human family members. When cats are called, will they come? Will they curl up in a person’s lap or accept a loving scratch on the chin? Cats decide that for themselves. Sometimes, they even seem to ignore the people around them. For example, a cat’s owner might speak to it, and the cat might appear not to notice. But cats may pay closer attention to people’s speech than they let on. That’s what a new study suggests.

Determining whether a person knows someone’s name is easy: Just ask! But since cats can’t communicate with words, the team had to come up with a different way to test the animals’ knowledge. “We used a technique called expectancy violation, which is often used with human infants,” says Takagi. “It describes animals’ tendency to take a longer look at an event when it differs from their expectations.” In other words, when something surprising happens, an animal will stare at it longer than at an everyday occurrence

It’s easy to find out if a person knows someone’s name. Just ask! But cats can’t communicate with words. So the team had to find a different way to test the animals’ knowledge. “We used a technique called expectancy violation, which is often used with human infants,” says Takagi. “It describes animals’ tendency to take a longer look at an event when it differs from their expectations.” In other words, animals will stare longer at something surprising.

Takagi’s team recruited 48 cats for their experiment. Of these felines, 19 lived in households with other cats. The rest were residents of cat cafés—establishments popular in Japan—where customers can interact with a whole group of kitties who are sometimes available for adoption. The researchers wanted to compare cats from these environments because “we thought there might be a difference in the number of times a cat is called by name at a home compared to at a cat café,” says Takagi. Café cats spend a lot of time with visitors who might not know them well, so these cats may have fewer opportunities to hear their companions’ names.

The scientists recorded the voices of owners and café caretakers calling out their cats’ names. They also took photos of each cat’s face. For the experiment, a researcher gently held a feline subject, or study participant, in place in front of a laptop. The scientists played an audio recording of the owner or caretaker calling the name of another cat who lives with the subject. Then a photo of a cat’s face appeared on the screen for seven seconds. Sometimes the photo matched the name the subject had just heard, and sometimes it didn’t. The researchers timed how long each cat looked at the photo (see Names and Faces).

Takagi’s team chose 48 cats for their experiment. Nineteen of them lived in households with other cats. The rest lived in cat cafés, which are popular in Japan. In these cafés, customers can interact with a group of kitties. Sometimes these cats are up for adoption. The researchers wanted to compare cats from these environments. “We thought there might be a difference in the number of times a cat is called by name at a home compared to a cat café,” says Takagi. Café cats spend a lot of time with visitors who might not know them well. So these cats may not hear their friends’ names as often.

Owners and café caretakers called out their cats’ names. The scientists recorded their voices. The scientists also took photos of each cat’s face. For the experiment, a researcher gently held a cat in place in front of a laptop. The scientists played an audio recording for this feline subject, or study participant. It was the owner or caretaker calling the name of another cat from the subject’s home. Then a photo of a cat’s face appeared on the screen for seven seconds. Sometimes the photo matched the name in the recording. Sometimes it didn’t. The researchers timed how long each subject looked at the photo (see Names and Faces).

Analyzing the data, Takagi’s team found that café cats spent similar amounts of time looking at the screen regardless of whether the name and face matched. That suggests they didn’t know their fellow café residents’ names and so weren’t surprised by the mismatch.

Household cats, on the other hand, tended to stare at the screen for a longer time when the photo displayed didn’t match the name they’d just heard. Their response suggests that these kitty subjects were confused by the mismatch between name and face: When they hear the name of a cat who lives with them, that’s who they expect to see. That implies that household cats know one another’s names.

Takagi says the study’s results show that we shouldn’t underestimate feline smarts. “Cats understand a lot more than we can imagine.”

Takagi’s team studied the data. They found that café cats didn’t seem to notice whether the name and face matched. These cats spent similar amounts of time looking at the screen either way. They didn’t seem surprised by a mismatch. That suggests they didn’t know their fellow café cats’ names.

The results were different with household cats. When the photo on the screen didn’t match the name in the recording, they tended to stare at the screen longer. The mismatch between name and face seemed to confuse them. When they hear the name of a cat who that lives with them, they expect to see that cat. That suggests that household cats know one another’s names.

Takagi says we can learn something from the study: Cats may be smarter than you think! “Cats understand a lot more than we can imagine.”