Most people change their tone at least a little when talking to a cat or other animal. Now research has coined the term “cat-led speech” for the equivalent of a baby talking to a cat. A new study has analyzed how well cats can distinguish between cat-directed speech and normal speech to other human adults.
Previous studies have shown that humans addressing babies in infant-directed speech or “baby talk” can help develop language skills and bonding between parent and child. A new study published in the journal Animal Cognition investigated whether there are similar effects to talking to cats through cat-directed speech.
The researchers took 19 indoor cats to participate in the study, all of which were pets of resident veterinary students. To avoid stressing the cats in an unfamiliar environment, the researchers conducted the experiments in the cats’ homes.
The researchers recorded humans speaking to their pets in both cat-directed and adult-directed speech. They also recorded 16 strangers calling the cat’s name. They then replayed the chat speeches and compared their behavioral responses to each of the different scenarios.
After statistical analysis of the behavioral responses, the researchers concluded that the cats could indeed distinguish the two types of speech from their human, but not from a stranger. They discovered that cats can distinguish on some level that their special cat-led speech is right for them.
According to the researchers, their findings are just “additional evidence to encourage humans to view cats as sensitive and communicative individuals”, and they highlight “the importance of one-to-one relationships for indoor companion cats”.
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