“Rapid Formation of Picture-Word Association in Cats”, 2024-10-04 (; similar):
It is well known that dogs are capable of following human verbal instructions. However, very little is known about the equivalent ability in cats.
In this study, we used a switched stimuli task to examine whether cats rapidly form picture-word associations, which is a fundamental ability for word learning. We presented cats with two meaningless picture-word combinations in the habituation phase. Then, on half of the trials we switched the combination (switched condition), but the other half of the trials remained as before (non-switched condition). If cats rapidly form picture-word associations, they were expected to look at the monitor for longer in the switched condition, reflecting detection of the change. We used human speech as stimuli in Experiment 1, and mechanical sounds (electronic sounds) in Experiment 2.
Cats expressed detection of the switched combination in Experiment 1, where human speech and objects were paired. However, in Experiment 2 where non-social sounds and objects were paired, there was no statistically-significant difference between switched and non-switched conditions, although there was a main effect of condition when the data from the two experiments were pooled.
These results demonstrate that cats can rapidly form picture-word associations. Further research should investigate whether domestication has played a role in this ability.