2023-05-11 16:00:00
The ability of dogs to imitate the behavior of their owners is well known. However, cats are also capable of developing these abilities. It was demonstrated years ago by a team of Japanese scientists in two animal ethology experiments.
the japanese cat Ebisu proved to be able to imitate the actions that its owner taught it, an experiment that could make this feline the first of its kind to demonstrate this ability, according to the authors of a scientific study published in the journal Animal Cognition. This behavior, according to the researchers, it had only been documented to date in a few creatures, suggesting that imitation arose relatively early in the evolutionary history of mammals.
The finding came about by mere chance when Claudia Fugazza, an ethologist at the Universidad Eötvös Loránd de Budapeststudied the behavior of a dog that had been trained for 10 years to copy a series of actions through the “do as I do” method (Do what I do). According to this technique, the animal memorizes the behaviors when this phrase is said to it and then executes it when it is told ‘Do it’. (do it). Over time, the animal learns that ‘do it’ means ‘copy me’, so every time the command is given it copies exactly what its owner does, even without having memorized it before.
Following this premise, researchers can discover if animals are capable of copying actions that they have never done before, simply by imitation.
Fugazza was working with Fumi Higaki, a dog trainer, when she told him that she had trained one of her cats with the ‘do as I do’ technique. The 11-year-old pet, named Ebisu (after the Japanese god of prosperity) lived in Higaki’s Pet Shop and was highly motivated by food, making her an easy target to train.
The perfect cat for the study
Fugazza took the opportunity to study the same behavior tested in dogs with other species, and found in EbisuEbisu an opportunity for it. Specifically, he discovered that he was able to copy actions that were familiar to him, such as opening a plastic drawer and biting on a rubber string. He then asked the cat to imitate new behaviors: on one occasion he would raise his right hand and touch a box, on another he would lean down and rub his face with another object.
“I started training Ebisu because I was curious to know if he could learn the do as I do method,” Higaki explains to National Geographic Spain. “For starters, I wasn’t sure if a cat could imitate people, but I just wanted to see how far we could get there.”
After rehearsing the experiment for about 16 times, Ebisu it was able to accurately imitate its owner on 81% of the attempts, the researchers report. The fact that the pet copied its owner’s gestures shows, according to experts, that the animal was able to distinguish the owner’s body parts and perform the same tasks with its own limbs.
This simple experiment has its scientific importance, since it is the first time that it has been documented in cats. The fact that these cats have demonstrated the same ability indicates, according to the authors of the study, that this behavior could be more widespread in the animal world than previously thought, it is even possible that mammals may have developed it in earlier stages. of its evolutionary history.
the domestication of the cat
“The presence of the cognitive ability to imitate in a species that is phylogenetically more distant from humans than are other species (for example, chimpanzees), demonstrates that this ability evolved before the two species (cats and humans) ) were divided in evolutionary history”, explains Claudia Fugazza to National Geographic Spain.
Fugazza maintains that most cats could imitate the actions of people if they undergo similar training “I don’t think Ebisu I was a genius”, but for some ethologists that behavior could be a mere chance or learning based on repetition, like animals in circuses, rather than an innate capacity.
“The test serves to demonstrate that cats have the possibility of imitating people” Claudia Fugazza, expert in animal behavior.
“The objective of the training is to teach animals a rule, to demonstrate that they are capable of performing an action. In the same way that humans will never be able to fly no matter how much we learn, if these creatures did not have this ability they would be unable to perform even this or any action no matter how much they train. The test serves to demonstrate that cats have this possibility, “adds Fugazza.
imitation learning
“Demonstrating the existence of imitation learning itself in animals is difficult, because it can be confused with other simpler forms of this behavior. points to National Geographic the ethologist Xavier Manteca-. However, the experimental paradigm used by the study authors – known as “do as I do” – was designed precisely to avoid such confusion, and experts in learning and cognition consider that it is, indeed, a good method to demonstrate the imitation existence”.
The expert alludes that the authors of the study are recognized researchers with a lot of experience in their field of work. AND, Although he points out that the main limitation of this research is that it is done with a single animal, “the results suggest that the domestic cat really has the ability to learn by imitation.”
To find out, more experiments with cats will be necessary. Unfortunately, it will not be possible Ebisu, who passed away two years ago. Be that as it may, the investigation opens the way for other kittens to lend themselves to imitation. Any volunteer? Meow!
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