CATS ARE BETTER AT WORD ASSOCIATION THAN HUMAN BABIES ARE, STUDY FINDS

Cats outperform toddlers on a basic measure of language comprehension, according to research published on October 4 in Scientific Reports. The study found that cats form associations between pictures and words about four times faster than human toddlers.

Language is a crucial tool for human communication, but the ability to understand speech isn’t unique to humans. Some apes can link spoken words to written symbols or pictures, and African grey parrots are known to understand and respond to spoken commands. Dogs, too, have been trained to recognize and react to simple words.

Yet, when it comes to their other major companion, cats, much less is known. “Cats can definitely recognize the sound of words coming from people, and increasing research shows they use human interaction for problem-solving,” says Dr. Carlo Siracusa, a veterinary behaviourist at the University of Pennsylvania. There’s also growing evidence that cats can respond to pointing and recognize not only their own names but also the names of familiar humans and animals. But the big question remains: can cats generally associate words with objects?

To test this theory, Saho Takagi and her team at Azabu University in Japan conducted a simple word association game with 31 adult cats, similar to those used to study language comprehension in babies. The cats were shown two nine-second cartoon clips, each accompanied by recordings of their owners repeating a made-up word. The clips featured a red sun labeled “paramo” and a blue unicorn labeled “keraru,” and the sequence was repeated until the cats began to lose interest, reducing their attention to the screen by 50%.

After a brief break, the clips were shown again, but this time, half of the pairings were switched. The cats were visibly confused by the change, with “paramo” now paired with the unicorn and “keraru” with the sun. The cats spent an average of 15% more time watching these mismatched pairings, suggesting that they had formed associations between the words and the images. This reaction, Takagi and her colleagues wrote in the study, provides strong evidence that the cats were able to link the made-up words with the images.

“Some cats even stared at the screen with their pupils dilated during the ‘switched’ condition,” Takagi told Science magazine. “It was adorable to see how seriously they participated in the experiment.”

The experiment showed that the cats were able to learn the word-image combinations after just two nine-second exposures—much faster than toddlers, who needed at least four 20-second trials to grasp the same concept.

However, these comparisons should be made with caution. “You’re comparing an adult animal with an immature animal from a different species,” Dr. Siracusa explained to Live Science. “Plus, we’re interpreting the behaviour of a completely different species. When we interpret children’s behaviour, we’re looking at our own species, which we’re naturally attuned to understand in an instinctive way.”

Comparing cats to other domestic species, such as dogs, may offer more insight, Siracusa suggested. However, it’s crucial to consider the significant evolutionary differences between them. He also noted that the research team developed a reasonable and effective method to investigate the question, especially given the challenges of studying cats.

Cognitive studies, by their nature, have inherent limitations that should be kept in mind when interpreting results. “Some cats have to be excluded from the study, which introduces a bias—but that’s not a flaw in the research,” Siracusa explained. “It’s just difficult to engage animals in these types of experiments.” Despite these challenges, the study demonstrates that cats are capable of forming picture-word associations, though whether this ability is innate or a result of domestication remains uncertain, the team wrote in the paper.