研究表明猫可以像狗一样与人交流

Study: Cats Can Connect with People Like Dogs

A new study has found that cats can connect with people in the same way as dogs and children.

The research, published in Current Biology, suggests the social abilities of cats to form human attachments² has been greatly underestimated³.

The study notes that more cats live with humans than dogs do worldwide. But historically, more scientific research has centered on the social relationships between people and dogs.

In experiments with cats and humans, the researchers found that cats do show specific “attachment¹ styles toward human caregivers.” This suggests that cats share some of the same social abilities that historically have only been linked to dogs.

Kristyn Vitale is a researcher at the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University. She was the lead writer of the study.

In a statement, she said the evidence suggests that both cat and dog attachments to humans may represent the same kind of connection that exists between children and their caretakers.

“Our study indicates that when cats live in a state of dependency with a human, that attachment behavior is flexible and the majority of cats use humans as a source of comfort.”

The researchers designed experiments similar to methods used to measure human attachment behaviors. For example, other studies have observed how babies react to being reunited with caregivers after being separated for short periods.

In this experiment, adult and young cats first spent two minutes in a room with their caregiver. The cats then spent two minutes in the room alone, followed by a two-minute reunification period with the caregiver.

About 70 cats were studied. The behavior of the animals was observed by experts who divided them into two groups. Sixty-four percent were judged to be “securely attached” to caregivers, while 36 percent were found to be “insecurely attached.”

The cats with secure attachments showed several signs of “reduced stress” levels, the study found. These cats were found to be more comfortable and effectively balanced their attention between the person and their surroundings.

However, the cats with an insecure attachment showed clear signs of stress. These included shaking of the tail, repeated licking⁵ or staying completely away from the caregiver.

Of the insecure cats studied, 84 percent were judged to be “ambivalent⁶.” Twelve percent were found to be “avoidant,” while four percent were considered “disorganized.”

Kristyn Vitale said there is a long-held societal belief that all cats like “to run and hide or seem to act aloof⁷.” But she said the experiments showed that cats are more likely to behave this way when they are insecure. “The majority of cats use their owner as a source of security. Your cat is depending on you to feel secure when they are stressed out,” Vitale said.

She added that the results showed that the level of secure and insecure attachments in cats is very close to those measured in human babies. In humans, research has found that 65 percent of babies are also securely attached to their caregivers.

The researchers also were interested in finding out if socialization training would change the results. But after a six-week training program for the cats, there were no major differences.

“Once an attachment style has been established between the cat and its caregiver, it appears to remain relatively⁸ stable over time, even after a training and socialization intervention,” Vitale said.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

style – n. a way of doing something

indicate –v. to show or suggest something

flexible – adj. able to change or be easily changed

comfort – n. a feeling of being relaxed and comfortable

stress – n. feelings or worry or nervousness caused by difficult situations or problems

lick⁴ – v. the moving of the tongue by a person or animal

ambivalent – adj. having mixed feelings about something or someone

aloof – adj. not friendly; disinterested⁹ in being involved in something

stable – adj. not likely to change or end

1 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

2 attachments   

n.（用电子邮件发送的）附件( attachment的名词复数 )；附着；连接；附属物

参考例句：

• The vacuum cleaner has four different attachments. 吸尘器有四个不同的附件。
• It's an electric drill with a range of different attachments. 这是一个带有各种配件的电钻。

3 underestimated   

对…估计不足，低估( underestimate的过去式和过去分词 )； 对…认识不足（或重视不够），低估，轻视

参考例句：

• They underestimated his abilities. 他们过低估计了他的才能。
• He says that we've underestimated natural variability. 他说我们低估了自然的变异性。

4 lick   

vt.舔（吃），打败，轻拍，吞卷；n.舔，少许

参考例句：

• I think we could lick the best teams there.我想我们能打败那儿最好的队。
• The house would look better with a lick of paint.这房子稍加颜色就好看了。

5 licking   

n. 殴打，挫败 动词lick的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The steak is so delicious that he's licking his lips. 牛排这么香，使得他垂涎欲滴了。
• The little boy is licking the ice-cream cone. 小男孩在舔着冰淇淋蛋卷。

6 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

7 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 disinterested   

adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的

参考例句：

• He is impartial and disinterested.他公正无私。
• He's always on the make,I have never known him do a disinterested action.他这个人一贯都是唯利是图，我从来不知道他有什么无私的行动。