Cats can learn words faster than human babies

To dominate the world you will have to understand the language those who believe that they dominate him. Thus, cats have a tremendous ability learn human words. Okay, maybe that’s not the reason. But the reality is that yes, it has been proven that cats can learn our vocabulary and that they can do it faster than human babies.

This is the conclusion of a study recently published in the journal Scientific reports team from Japanese scientists. They decided to begin their study after reviewing other previous studies. Science has already proven that cats can find out your name as well as their human friends and other animals in their habitat. They also have a very good sense of which people can be trusted and which people cannot.

This all makes a lot of sense, since the cat we now live with is a species that has evolved as It was domesticated. Their habitat is our homes. This is why it is often said that cats should not be allowed outside. In this case, they become an invasive species. But putting that aside, if cats have evolved to live with us, then it is normal that they understand us and remember our words. Now, to what extent do they do this? This is what these scientists wanted to study.

Cats vs babies

To conduct this study, we took part 31 adult cats who were given tests traditionally used to assess children’s ability to remember words.

The experiment was very simple. The animals had to see animated images that showed a specific scene, and the voice of their caregiver would say a made-up word to describe it. For example, an image of a unicorn that grew and shrank was called Kerara, while the sun with its expanding and contracting red face was described by the name Parumo. Then they took a break and repeated the experiment, but this time changing the names of some of the images. When did this happen, cats they showed bewilderment. Their pupils dilated and they looked at the screen longer, as if surprised.

The same thing happens with babies, but they needed 20 seconds adaptation to achieve this while the cats they needed 9 seconds to learn words.

Does this mean cats can remember words better than babies?

It is important to clarify that the study was conducted with infants. in the 1990swith a different design. For example, the voice that spoke these words belonged to stranger In addition, infants were shown one-syllable words with different pitches, while cats heard three-syllable words with exaggerated pitches and greater emphasis.

Therefore, it cannot be definitively stated that cats are able to remember words more easily than human infants. Comparison should be made with identical experimental design.

What seems clear is that cats, better or worse than babies, can learn words without training. They weren’t given no reward They were simply shown a combination of scenes and words. They may have done this unconsciously while listening to us. For example, if they hear this word every time they jump on the couch, they will know exactly what a couch is.

In short, when you see your cat ignoring you, rest assured that he is doing it on purpose. He not only listens to you, but also knows very well what you say. Don’t underestimate this.