Study Suggests, Your Cat, Tracks Your Movements.
Scientists in Japan have found that house cats
"mentally map" the location of their owners,
even when they are out of sight. .
'Newsweek' reports that researchers from the Department
of Psychology at Kyoto University in Japan found that cats
create mental representations linked to vocal signals. .
The study, published in 'PLOS One,'
was based on three experiments.
One of the experiments relied on
vocal recordings of participating cats' owners. .
With one speaker in the room and another outside the room, scientists were able to gauge the cats' responses to hearing their owners' voices. .
According to 'Variety,' the felines were most surprised when the recording played from within the room. .
Scientists believe that this reaction was due to cats' ability to determine their owners' location and know that the audio cue was coming from the wrong place. .
Results showed that cats were
surprised when their owner appeared to be
'teleported' to a new, unexpected location,
but they did not react in the same way
when tested with non-social stimuli. , Study authors, Department of Psychology
at Kyoto University, Japan, via 'Variety'.
These results suggest that cats hold
a mental representation of the unseen
owner and map their owner's location
from the owner's voice, showing
evidence of socio-spatial cognition, Study authors, Department of Psychology
at Kyoto University, Japan, via 'Variety'