<https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-cat-knows-where-you-are-even-when-they-cant-see-you-180979059/>

New research suggests your cat is likely using sounds to keep track of where
you are, even when you’re out of sight. Domestic cats create “mental maps”
that track where their owner is located based on the direction of certain
sounds, an ability that was previously unknown in felines, according to new
research published this week in the journal PLOS One.

Study author Saho Takagi, a doctoral student at Kyoto University, says she
has
long been interested in cats' hearing and their ability to move their ears in
different directions.

"I saw a cat with only one of its ears tilted back, listening to the sound
behind
it, and felt that cats must be thinking about many things from the sound,"
Takagi says in an email to CNN’s Sherry Liang. "This time, I investigated
whether
they map their owner's position spatially from sounds."

The team conducted a series of experiments to find out if cats actively track
their owners using cues like sound. They played recordings of human voices
calling a cat’s name from different locations, in what they called
“teleportation-like scenarios.” For example, a nearby speaker would announce
“Fluffy!”, suggesting to the kitty that the owner was close, and then a
speaker
in a different room would call the same name again. The felines appeared
surprised by the voice coming from an unexpected location, suggesting that
domesticated cats spatially map their human companions using audio cues,
even when they’re in the next room, reports Hannah Osborne for Newsweek.

"These results suggest that cats hold a mental representation of the unseen
owner and map their owner's location from the owner's voice, showing
evidence of socio-spatial cognition,” the researchers write in the paper.
Earlier
studies have shown that cats can tell familiar and unfamiliar human voices
apart, and locate hidden objects. Therefore, "it seems plausible that cats
should
be able to mentally map others' locations based on vocalizations,” they
explain.
....

On 11/15/2021 11:44 PM, Tigger wrote:
>
> <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-cat-knows-where-you-are-even-when-they-cant-see-you-180979059/>
>
>
> New research suggests your cat is likely using sounds to keep track of
> where
> you are, even when you’re out of sight. Domestic cats create “mental maps”
> that track where their owner is located based on the direction of certain
> sounds, an ability that was previously unknown in felines, according to new
> research published this week in the journal PLOS One.
>
> Study author Saho Takagi, a doctoral student at Kyoto University, says
> she has
> long been interested in cats' hearing and their ability to move their
> ears in
> different directions.
>
> "I saw a cat with only one of its ears tilted back, listening to the
> sound behind
> it, and felt that cats must be thinking about many things from the sound,"
> Takagi says in an email to CNN’s Sherry Liang. "This time, I
> investigated whether
> they map their owner's position spatially from sounds."
>
> The team conducted a series of experiments to find out if cats actively
> track
> their owners using cues like sound. They played recordings of human voices
> calling a cat’s name from different locations, in what they called
> “teleportation-like scenarios.” For example, a nearby speaker would
> announce
> “Fluffy!”, suggesting to the kitty that the owner was close, and then a
> speaker
> in a different room would call the same name again. The felines appeared
> surprised by the voice coming from an unexpected location, suggesting that
> domesticated cats spatially map their human companions using audio cues,
> even when they’re in the next room, reports Hannah Osborne for Newsweek.
>
> "These results suggest that cats hold a mental representation of the unseen
> owner and map their owner's location from the owner's voice, showing
> evidence of socio-spatial cognition,” the researchers write in the
> paper. Earlier
> studies have shown that cats can tell familiar and unfamiliar human voices
> apart, and locate hidden objects. Therefore, "it seems plausible that
> cats should
> be able to mentally map others' locations based on vocalizations,” they
> explain.
> ...
>
Very cool! Not totally surprising. :)

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
> On 11/15/2021 11:44 PM, Tigger wrote:
>>
>> <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-cat-knows-where-you-are-even-when-they-cant-see-you-180979059/>
>>
>>
>> New research suggests your cat is likely using sounds to keep track of
>> where
>> you are, even when you’re out of sight. Domestic cats create “mental maps”

>>
> Very cool!  Not totally surprising. :)

I propose a followup study, with a huge grant, to demonstrate the same
effect using the
sound of a pop top on a can of wet food...

On 11/24/2021 1:25 AM, Tigger wrote:
> jmcquown wrote:
>> On 11/15/2021 11:44 PM, Tigger wrote:
>>>
>>> <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-cat-knows-where-you-are-even-when-they-cant-see-you-180979059/>
>>>
>>>
>>> New research suggests your cat is likely using sounds to keep track
>>> of where
>>> you are, even when you’re out of sight. Domestic cats create “mental
>>> maps”
>
>>>
>> Very cool!  Not totally surprising. :)
>
> I propose a followup study, with a huge grant, to demonstrate the same
> effect using the
> sound of a pop top on a can of wet food...

I second that proposal! :)

Jill

In article <snklso$uig$1@news.mixmin.net>, Tigger
<invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> jmcquown wrote:
> > On 11/15/2021 11:44 PM, Tigger wrote:
> >>
> >> <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-cat-knows-where-you-ar
> >> e-even-when-they-cant-see-you-180979059/>
> >>
> >>
> >> New research suggests your cat is likely using sounds to keep track
> >> of where you are, even when you're out of sight. Domestic cats
> >> create "mental maps"

> >>
> > Very cool! Not totally surprising. :)

> I propose a followup study, with a huge grant, to demonstrate the same
> effect using the sound of a pop top on a can of wet food...

I second that!

Judith

--
Judith Latham
Stourbridge, West Midlands. UK.