Cats can mentally map your location by ear

[Demovictory9]

A new study out of Japan found that a stationary cat can track its owner's location using audio cues -- specifically, the owner's voice.

Saho Takagi, first author of the study and a doctoral student at Kyoto University, said she has always been interested in cats' hearing abilities. She's a cat person all around, but said her favorite part is their ears. Cats have sensitive ears that can move 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 said in an email to CNN. "This time, I investigated whether they map their owner's position spatially from sounds."

The study, which took place in a home setting and at a cat café, observed how cats would react to their owners' voices without visual cues by using speakers that played a recording of owners saying their cats' names. The researchers placed the speakers apart from each other, out of the cats' sight, to see how the cats would respond to the sounds, especially if the owner's voice appeared to teleport from one location to another. Another group of people, who were not animal behavior experts, rated the cats' level of surprise from a scale of 0 to 4, based on behaviors like ear and head movements.

Cats in the study were surprised when their owners appeared to "transport" from one location to another, the study concluded. Results from this study demonstrate evidence of socio-spatial cognition in cats, meaning they can mentally picture where others are through cues like sound.



https://www.microsoftnewskids.com/en-us/kids/animals/cats-can-mentally-map-your-location-by-ear/ar-AAQz2O5?ocid=msedgntp

[NJCher]

1. I might try this

Using a couple Bluetooth speakers and my computer.

I love to watch those little triangle ears rotate.

[wnylib]

2. This ability no doubt contributes

to the hunting skill of cats.

I live in an apartment building and Ember is alert to the sounds and locations inside and outside the building, often before I hear them.

She knows some words. "Hungry" and "treat" get strong reactions, like running to her dish. But other words, including her name sometimes, get an ear twitch, indicating that the word has her attention, like "play" or "red light" (laser). If she's comfortable and does not want to move when I call her, one ear twitches. "Yeah, I heard you, but not now. Call me later."

[Demovictory9]

3. my cat will do the ear twitch at me without lifting her head from sleeping pose

[Judi Lynn]

4. Your Cat May Know Where You Are Even When They Can't See You

New research suggests domesticated cats keep a ‘mental map’ of their owner’s location, an ability previously unknown in felines

Corryn Wetzel
Daily Correspondent

November 12, 2021 3:21 p.m.



A new study from Japanese researchers found that a stationary cat can track its owner's location by their voice. anniepaddington via Getty Images

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.

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