Scientific American 201906

16 Scientific American, June 2019

GETTY IMAGES

ANIMAL COGNITION

Cats Know

Their Names

Felines distinguish between

their monikers and similar-

sounding words

Cats are notorious for their indifference

to humans: almost any owner will testify

to how readily these animals ignore us

when we call them. But a new study

indicates domestic cats do recognize their

own names—even if they walk away

when they hear them.

Atsuko Saito, a behavioral scientist

now at Sophia University in Tokyo, pre vi -

ous ly showed that cats can recognize

their owner’s voice. In her latest study,

which involved 78 cats from Japanese

households and a “cat café,” she homed

in on responses to their names.

Saito and her colleagues first had

owners repeatedly say four words that

sounded similar to their cats’ names until

the animals habituated to those words

and stopped responding. Next the owners

said the actual names, and the researchers

looked at whether individual cats (when

living among other cats) appeared able to

distinguish their monikers. The cats had

more pronounced responses to their own

names—meowing or moving their ears,

heads or tails—than to similar words or

other cats’ names, according to the

study, which was published in April in

Scientific Reports.

The researchers also had people

unfamiliar to the cats speak the names.

Although the felines’ responses were

less prominent than when their owners

called them, they still appeared to

recognize their names.

“This new study clearly shows that

many cats react to their own names

when spoken by their owners,” says biolo­

gist John Bradshaw, who formerly studied

human­animal interactions at the University

of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute and

was not involved in the work. But Bradshaw

says he is less convinced cats can recog­

nize their names when spoken by some­

one unfamiliar. “I think that it’s entirely

possible that some cats are able to gen er­

alize between one human voice and an ­

other, but I’d like to see more trials before

I’d say that the evidence is compelling,”

he says.

Saito says the felines in the experi­

ments probably “associated their names

with some rewards or punish ments,” and

she thinks it is unlikely they understand

that these sounds are attached to them

as individuals. “There is no evidence that

cats have the ability to recognize them­

selves, like us,” she explains. “So the

recognition [of] their name is different

from ours.” Still, it may be possible to

teach cats to recog nize other words.

Whether that could allow humans to train

cats to respond to commands—as dogs

readily do—is another matter.

“Cats are just as good as dogs at

learning,” Bradshaw says. “They’re just

not as keen to show their owners what

they’ve learned.” — Jim Daley

ADVANCES

“Cats are just

as good as dogs

at learning.”

— John Bradshaw

University of Bristol

© 2019 Scientific American

16 Scientific American, June 2019

GETTY IMAGES

ANIMAL COGNITION

Cats Know

Their Names

Felines distinguish between

their monikers and similar-

sounding words

Cats are notorious for their indifference

to humans: almost any owner will testify

to how readily these animals ignore us

when we call them. But a new study

indicates domestic cats do recognize their

own names—even if they walk away

when they hear them.

Atsuko Saito, a behavioral scientist

now at Sophia University in Tokyo, pre vi-

ous ly showed that cats can recognize

their owner’s voice. In her latest study,

which involved 78 cats from Japanese

households and a “cat café,” she homed

in on responses to their names.

Saito and her colleagues first had

owners repeatedly say four words that

sounded similar to their cats’ names until

the animals habituated to those words

and stopped responding. Next the owners

said the actual names, and the researchers

looked at whether individual cats (when

living among other cats) appeared able to

distinguish their monikers. The cats had

more pronounced responses to their own

names—meowing or moving their ears,

heads or tails—than to similar words or

other cats’ names, according to the

study, which was published in April in

Scientific Reports.

The researchers also had people

unfamiliar to the cats speak the names.

Although the felines’ responses were

less prominent than when their owners

called them, they still appeared to

recognize their names.

“This new study clearly shows that

many cats react to their own names

when spoken by their owners,” says biolo­

gist John Bradshaw, who formerly studied

human­animal interactions at the University

of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute and

was not involved in the work. But Bradshaw

says he is less convinced cats can recog­

nize their names when spoken by some­

one unfamiliar. “I think that it’s entirely

possible that some cats are able to gen er­

alize between one human voice and an ­

other, but I’d like to see more trials before

I’d say that the evidence is compelling,”

he says.

Saito says the felines in the experi­

ments probably “associated their names

with some rewards or punish ments,” and

she thinks it is unlikely they understand

that these sounds are attached to them

as individuals. “There is no evidence that

cats have the ability to recognize them­

selves, like us,” she explains. “So the

recognition [of] their name is different

from ours.” Still, it may be possible to

teach cats to recog nize other words.

Whether that could allow humans to train

cats to respond to commands—as dogs

readily do—is another matter.

“Cats are just as good as dogs at

learning,” Bradshaw says. “They’re just

not as keen to show their owners what

they’ve learned.” — Jim Daley

ADVANCES

“Cats are just

as good as dogs

at learning.”

— John Bradshaw

University of Bristol

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