Cats don’t often come when they are called. Indeed, many felines seem to ignore their owners completely unless there’s food involved. But French researchers have found that cats pay more attention to humans than we think.
Because cats can often become stressed out in a lab environment, the researchers went to the animals’ homes. They played recordings of people saying common phrases, such as “See you later” or “Do you want to play?” Some of the recordings were of the cats’ owners, while others were of strangers. In some recordings, the people were using what is known as cat-directed speech—a high-pitched voice many humans use when speaking to their pets, which is similar to the “baby talk” used when adults speak to babies.
At first, it didn’t seem like the…
You're reading a preview of
The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 144