Cats are very intelligent animals, as has been mentioned many times. But a very frequent question in the animal world is whether cats recognize their name when called. Had you ever wondered that?
A study conducted by a group of Japanese researchers from Sophia University (Tokyo) confirms that cats do recognize their name and distinguish it from other words of the same length and intonation. They even state that they can distinguish their name when pronounced by a stranger.
Cats are the favorite animal of Atsuko Saito, the psychologist at Sophia University in Tokyo and head of the study published in Scientific Reports. Saito decided to conduct this study because she states that the ability of domestic cats to relate to humans had never been thoroughly explored.
How was the study conducted?
The study was carried out with a sample of 78 cats from Japanese homes and Cat Cafés to analyze their ability to understand words. According to the study, researchers asked owners and strangers to say four different words followed by the cat's name to see how the cats responded.
They analyzed how the cats reacted when hearing their name compared to other words, through gestures and movements of their tail, ears, or head.
After four different experiments in total, they discovered that cats reacted differently and significantly when they heard their names. And most importantly, they not only reacted differently when hearing their names pronounced by their owners, but also by strangers.
Therefore, as Jennifer Vonk, a cognitive psychologist at Oakland University in Michigan, rightly states, it is “a very well-conducted study.” She even did a test with her own cats, saying names in a sing-song voice, and her cats did not react the same way as when she said their own names.
Now it's your turn to check this study! Tell us on social media how your ARISTOCAT reacts.