Cats may grasp human words quicker than toddlers

Cats have lived alongside humans for about 10,000 years, and it seems that during this time, they have been carefully observing how we communicate. New studies suggest that our feline companions can learn the words we use to describe specific objects or images, and they do so faster than our own children, reports Science Alert.

Previous research has shown that cats can follow a human pointing gesture, understand whom they can trust, and who is responsible for their food. We also know that they can recognize their name as well as the names of other known cats and humans. Researchers from Azabu University in Japan, led by cognitive scientist Saho Takagi, decided to investigate whether cats are "programmed" to learn human language.

"I was very surprised because it meant that cats can eavesdrop on human conversations and understand words without special reward-based training," said Saho Takagi from Azabu University in Japan.

To examine cats' linguistic abilities, the researchers experimented with 31 adult domestic cats. Each cat was shown two short animations on a laptop while hearing a recording of their caretaker uttering made-up words. During the first animation—depicting a unicorn expanding and contracting—the cats heard the word "keraru." In the second—showing a red sun expanding and shrinking—the word "parumo" was used.

According to Science Alert, despite the short exposure time, the cats showed surprise when the image did not match the word, focusing on the screen 33% longer in such cases. "These results show that cats can quickly form associations between an image and a word," the study's authors stated. "Cats pay attention to what we say in daily life—and try to understand us—more than we realize," Takagi added.

Although the experiment suggests that cats may connect human words with images even faster than infants, researchers note some differences between earlier studies on children and the present one. Infants heard one-syllable words spoken by a stranger in various intonations, while the cats heard three-syllable words spoken by their caretakers in a somewhat exaggerated manner.

According to the authors, further research could help understand cognitive processes and communication between different species. "Regardless of who learns faster, it is fascinating that cats can pick up on the connections between human words and images," the researchers concluded.