They may seem distant and indifferent to what we do, but cats actually pay close attention when we talk and can even beat babies at a word association game, a study suggests.
A small team of animal scientists from Azabu University in Japan has discovered that common domestic cats are able to match human words to images without being prompted or rewarded.
They enlisted the help of 31 adult domestic cats, each of whom was given a word test originally intended for babies.
All participants saw two short cartoons on a laptop screen and each clip contained a different made-up word.
At most, a cat saw each cartoon eight times. They had a short break before being shown the videos again, but some contained the ‘wrong’ nonsense word.
Normal domestic cats are able to match human words to images without prompting or reward (stock image)
Cats pay close attention when we talk and can even beat babies at a word association game (stock image)
Analysis showed that the cats appeared visibly perplexed and looked at the screen for about a third longer when an incorrect word was pronounced.
The authors said they believe this shows that they had learned to match the original sentences with the images they had seen.
Previous research shows that babies behave similarly, but take longer to make the connections between words and pictures. They have to see the original cartoons about 16 to 20 times.
Author Saho Takagi said: ‘Cats pay more attention to what we say in everyday life – and try to understand us – than we realize.’
The findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
More than 30 adult domestic cats were each given a word test originally designed for babies (stock image)