Scientists in Japan claim that cats can learn their name!
Science does important research! Scientists in Japan now claim that cats can learn their name!
Japanese scientists played recordings of a cat’s owner saying four words with lengths and accents similar to its name before saying the feline’s actual name. The word hihu (Japanese for “skin”), for example, might proceed the name “Kari.” As the random words—all nouns—played, the cats became less and less interested. But as soon as they heard their name, most moved their ears and heads; a few even got up (above). The scientists saw similar responses when the cat’s name came after the names of other felines he lived with, or when a stranger spoke the words.
Any cat owner could have told these scientists this. More significant is the fact that cats in the wild normally do not use meowing as a communications tool. Only with humans do they meow, indicating that they learn that humans respond to sound, and they then adapt to use the knowledge to gain what they want from their human staff.
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Science does important research! Scientists in Japan now claim that cats can learn their name!
Japanese scientists played recordings of a cat’s owner saying four words with lengths and accents similar to its name before saying the feline’s actual name. The word hihu (Japanese for “skin”), for example, might proceed the name “Kari.” As the random words—all nouns—played, the cats became less and less interested. But as soon as they heard their name, most moved their ears and heads; a few even got up (above). The scientists saw similar responses when the cat’s name came after the names of other felines he lived with, or when a stranger spoke the words.
Any cat owner could have told these scientists this. More significant is the fact that cats in the wild normally do not use meowing as a communications tool. Only with humans do they meow, indicating that they learn that humans respond to sound, and they then adapt to use the knowledge to gain what they want from their human staff.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
A crazy study… But at least it confirms us cat owners are not crazy…. And will add to the weight of evidence that cats HAVE evolved to be around us…. Just as dogs have…. But with more attitude :-)
Did they run a can opener?
“their human staff” — Too funny!!
Pavlov’s little known failures
http://apt46.net/wp-content/upload/pavlovs-cat.jpg
Some clown in Washington DC will probably propose a multi-million dollar project to further study this matter.
Dogs have family, cats have staff.
Having been either around cats growing up and then owning them as an adult I can attest to the fact that cats
do indeed not only know their names but can and do communicate with their owners or “servants” as they view
humans…..
Meowing is something that they do only with their mothers as I understand it and as such when they do it to their humans it is an indication that no matter how old they are, they still view the owner as the “mother cat”.
They also growl, hiss and purr.
I, for one am very attuned to this and even the body language the cat displays.
I can tell instantly, when one of my cats shows any of these behaviors what they are telling me and what they
want sometimes simply by the infection of said growl, hiss, purr or meow.
And of course, when this happens, I do as I am told because if I do not, I will be nagged and nagged until I do.
Indeed, dogs have owners as they are pack animals. Cats over time train their humans well……:):)
“The Naming of Cats”
T S Eliot
https://youtu.be/TXkLgtusza4
1:53
Do Big Cats Purr?
Big Cat Rescue Tampa, Florida
https://youtu.be/eHZJrx7RZ2w
3:08
When I was was a kid we were dog-people. Cats were quite opaque to me and I
didn’t like them.
I am, Gawd help me, 63 years decrepit now, and I have had my sweet little cat friends
with me for about ten years now. Observing them closely, it became obvious that they
are far more intelligent and capable than people give them credit for, so I decided to try
some fun experiments with them using food to reinforce learned behaviors. (Hey, I’ll
do anything for free food myself!) It became obvious early on that they could recognize
their names but I have also taught several cats to understand “CHOW!” (regular wet food,)
“CRUNCHY…..SNACK!” (which means, of course, crunchy snack,) and their favorite treat which
I serve to them warm: “GOAT….MILK!” Yes, they understand the difference. Sometimes, when
I give my all gray cat Yoda his regular wet food ( “CHOW!” ) and he isn’t hungry he will just
sniff the food, then look up at me and start meowing, or perhaps “whining” would be a better
description. When I then give him warm goat milk he will instantly stick his head in the bowl
and noisily lap it up. A lot of humans start whining too, when they don’t get their morning coffee.
If Yodie is outside, and I need him to come in, I will say, “YODIE! Let’s get you some “GOAT…..MILK!”
and he will come running.
I don’t agree that cats think of their people only as a food source. We all need sustenance
but once that is taken care of I have found that cats are extremely affectionate. Yoda also just
likes to hang out with me. Right now he in in the Sphinx position right in front of the keyboard.
I am typing this with one hand. Yes, Mr. Z, Yoda likes your website behindtheblack.com, too!
Next up: the teapot is on the stove for some hot water. A nice little cup of Darjeeling for me,
and some warm GOAT…..MILK! for Yodie!