Can Cats Understand Their Own Names? New Research Provides an Answer

Can cats understand their own names? Recently, scientists have published a paper on this issue.To find the answer to this question, researchers analyzed data from 'ordinary families' and cat cafes.

In the first part of the study, cats' responses to human voices were usually made through directional behaviors (ear and head movements) rather than communicative behaviors (vocalization and tail movement).

During the tests, researchers first called the cats' names several times by their owners, then a stranger called the cats' names, and finally, they called the cats' names again. These tested cats showed obvious responses to their owners' names, with slightly weakened responses to strangers calling their names. When their owners called their names again, they showed obvious responses again.

In the second part of the experiment, the tests included several nouns. In some cases, these nouns were words that sounded like cat names. In other cases, the test personnel used the names of other cats that lived in the same space as the test subjects. The results showed that 'cats can distinguish between spoken words based on phoneme differences.' The study further pointed out that 'this discriminatory ability was acquired without explicit training,' but rather 'stemmed from the natural everyday communication between humans and cats.'

Over the past few years, researchers have published two similar papers introducing the data they found in cat tracking experiments. One paper was titled 'House Cats' Recognition of Their Owners' Voices,' and the other was titled 'House Cats Can Discriminate Their Names from Other Words.'

Researchers have also conducted similar studies on canine animals.