During the study, cats were shown combinations of pictures and words. They were first introduced to two meaningless combinations, and in the second stage of the experiment, one part of the combinations did not change, the second did. Additionally, in the first experiment, pets were told nonsense words in their owner’s voice.
It turned out that when the combinations changed, cats looked at the monitor longer. This means they can detect changes in these combinations.
In the second part of the experiment, scientists used mechanical sounds instead of the owner’s voice. As a result, no difference was seen in the cats between the combinations changing and remaining the same.
All this means that cats can quickly form picture-word associations. However, this ability is not limited to human speech. Perhaps what makes these animals more sensitive to the owner’s speech is their attachment to him and constant interaction with him.
Source: Ferra
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