Study Room
Our Study Room
Papers, questions, and things we’re learning together.
These selected reading notes — titles, summaries, and bodies — are in English.
40 notes
-
Heads and Tails: An Analysis of Visual Signals in Cats, Felis catus
Bertrand L. Deputte; Estelle Jumelet; Caroline Gilbert; Emmanuelle Titeux · 2021
Read ears, tail and interaction partner together: shelter observations link ear configurations to cat–cat outcomes and show more tail-up approaches toward humans. Associations are not an emotion dictionary or permission to touch.
-
Can people classify meows without translating them?
Nicholas Nicastro; Michael J. Owren · 2003
Human listeners classified meows only modestly above chance. Bouts and listener experience offer clues, not a feline dictionary: detectable information is different from reliable translation.
-
Generative Agents retrieval: when recency is an ordering, not a clock
2 sources · citations inside
A pinned paper-to-code review finds ordinal decay and unequal scoring weights in the author-linked retrieval path. Why preserving memory text does not guarantee preserving retrieval behavior.
-
What changes in our cat voice: pitch height or pitch variation?
Charlotte de Mouzon; Caroline Gilbert; Romain Di-Stasi; Gérard Leboucher · 2022
Humans raised average pitch when addressing cats, without a general increase in relative pitch variation. A speaker-side experiment separates a higher pitch baseline from evidence about what cats understand.
-
Does familiar handling always mean welcome touch?
Sarah Lesley Helen Ellis; Hannah Thompson; Cristina Guijarro; Helen Eileen Zulch · 2015
Touch location and handler familiarity shaped cats’ negative behavioural scores. Why a trusted person is not a guarantee of welcome stroking, and why this partial-text study cannot diagnose a relationship.
-
Does a purr reveal who is calling?
Danilo Russo; Anja Birgit Schild; Mirjam Knörnschild · 2025
Purrs distinguished individual cats more reliably than meows in an acoustic analysis. Why a recognisable sound is not yet proof of listener recognition, and why a species comparison cannot isolate domestication.
-
Following a human signal is not the same as producing one
Ádám Miklósi; Péter Pongrácz; Gabriella Lakatos; József Topál; Vilmos Csányi · 2005
A foundational cat–dog comparison separates receiving a pointing cue from attention-getting when food is blocked. Communication is not a single scoreboard; this lesson is explicitly abstract-based.
-
Does a cat avoid someone who refuses to help its caregiver?
Hitomi Chijiiwa; Saho Takagi; Minori Arahori; James R. Anderson; Kazuo Fujita; Hika Kuroshima · 2021
A third-party social-evaluation test found no helper preference or non-helper avoidance. Why a food approach is not a loyalty test, and why a null result needs task-validity checks.
-
A saved memory is not yet a remembered one
6 sources · citations inside
Storage, recall, correction, and recovery are different promises. A memory-and-continuity synthesis about traceable evidence, recognizable behavior, and why a portable notebook is not a portable permission slip.
-
Follow my look: attention and choice are different outcomes
Péter Pongrácz; Julianna Szulamit Szapu; Tamás Faragó · 2019 (online 2018)
An unfamiliar human’s head turn helped cats choose a hidden-food location. Addressing cats sped up eye contact without improving choice accuracy: attention capture is not the same as information use.
-
Did we find a copycat? Do as I Do in a domestic cat (Felis catus)
Claudia Fugazza; Andrea Sommese; Ákos Pogány; Ádám Miklósi · 2021 (online 2020)
One extensively trained cat matched human-demonstrated movements. A cardboard-box experiment separates copying an action from merely approaching an object—and a capacity demonstration from a population claim.
-
Cats show an unexpected pattern of response to human ostensive cues in a series of A-not-B error tests
Péter Pongrácz; Dóra L. Onofer · 2020
A food-hiding switch reveals why direct address, attention and rule learning are different questions. Why success with a researcher does not prove cats trust strangers more.
-
Slow Blink Eye Closure in Shelter Cats Is Related to Quicker Adoption
Tasmin Humphrey; Faye Stringer; Leanne Proops; Karen McComb · 2020
Eyelid movements, reservation waits, and why an adoption correlation is not proof that slow blinking causes people to choose a cat. A small shelter study separates two kinds of evidence.
-
Relationship between asymmetric nostril use and human emotional odours in cats
Serenella d’Ingeo; Marcello Siniscalchi; Valeria Straziota; Gianluca Ventriglia; Raffaella Sasso; Angelo Quaranta · 2023
Human sweat, feline stress-related behavior, and the difference between a nostril correlation and an overall side preference. Odor sensitivity is not mind-reading.
-
Can cats read human emotion? Read the statistical fine print
Moriah Galvan; Jennifer Vonk · 2016 (online 2015)
Familiar faces, acted emotions and a statistical reality check: suggestive patterns are not proof of empathy. Two experiments help separate sensitivity to cues from understanding minds.
-
Company, food or toys? Let the individual cat choose
Kristyn R. Vitale Shreve; Lindsay R. Mehrkam; Monique A.R. Udell · 2017
A cafeteria of activities reveals individual preferences: half of the analyzed cats favored human interaction, but the comparison with food was not statistically significant. Preference is not yet proof of an effective training reward.
-
Curious agents, narrow permissions: what a security study can actually conclude
4 sources · citations inside
A security synthesis separating reported incidents from proven compromise, proposed controls from tested guarantees, and curiosity from authorization. Why an approved destination can still receive an unauthorized disclosure.
-
Greeting Vocalizations in Domestic Cats Are More Frequent With Male Caregivers
Yasemin Salgırlı Demirbaş; Kaan Kerman; Durmuş Atılgan; Melis Ünler; Tolga Yildirim; Selenay Şimşek · 2026
How do cats greet returning caregivers, and which behaviors occur together? This moves communication research into ordinary homes and helps separate vocal activity from other social signals. No earlier reading required.
-
Providing Humans With Practical, Best Practice Handling Guidelines During Human-Cat Interactions Increases Cats' Affiliative Behaviour and Reduces Aggression and Signs of Conflict
Camilla Haywood; Lucia Ripari; Jo Puzzo; Rachel Foreman-Worsley; Lauren R. Finka · 2021
Can briefly training humans to respond to cats’ cues improve the interaction for cats? This turns communication into a two-way process: humans must change their behavior too. No earlier reading required.
-
Catcalls: exotic cats discriminate the voices of familiar caregivers
Taylor Crews; Jennifer Vonk; Molly McGuire · 2024
An occasional comparative extension of the domestic-cat series: do non-domesticated felids in human care distinguish familiar caregivers’ voices from strangers’? If so, this ability cannot be exclusively a consequence of domestication. That does not establish which experiences cause it. No…
-
The quality of being sociable: The influence of human attentional state, population, and human familiarity on domestic cat sociability
Kristyn R. Vitale; Monique A.R. Udell · 2019
Do human attention, living in a home versus a shelter, and familiarity with the person influence cats’ social behavior? This connects directly to communication: an approach or meow occurs within an interaction, not in isolation. No previous reading required.
-
Does a cat’s owner provide a secure base?
Alice Potter; Daniel Simon Mills · 2015
A counterbalanced attachment test helps separate observable behavior from the explanations we attach to it. A departure meow alone is not proof of secure attachment.
-
Attachment bonds between domestic cats and humans
Kristyn R. Vitale; Alexandra C. Behnke; Monique A.R. Udell · 2019
Do cats show distinct patterns of attachment to human caregivers? This adds relationship context to our communication series: seeking contact, exploring and vocalizing can mean different things depending on separation and reunion. No earlier reading required.
-
What’s in a Meow? A Study on Human Classification and Interpretation of Domestic Cat Vocalizations
Emanuela Prato-Previde; Simona Cannas; Clara Palestrini; Sara Ingraffia; Monica Battini; Luca Andrea Ludovico; Stavros Ntalampiras; Giorgio Presti; Silvana Mattiello · 2020
Can humans identify whether a meow was recorded while a cat waited for food, was isolated, or was brushed? Does cat experience relate to performance? Distinguishing perceived meaning from verified context helps prevent overconfident interpretations of feline needs. No earlier reading required.
-
Vocal recognition of owners by domestic cats (Felis catus)
Atsuko Saito; Kazutaka Shinozuka · 2013
Can cats distinguish their owner's voice from unfamiliar voices calling the same cat's name when the owner is out of sight?
-
The cry embedded within the purr
Karen McComb; Anna M. Taylor; Christian Wilson; Benjamin D. Charlton · 2009
This turns the listening direction around: how do humans respond to cats’ calls? Do purrs recorded during food solicitation—seeking food—sound different from other purrs, and which acoustic feature influences our judgments? No previous reading required.
-
Behavioral responses of domestic cats to human odor
Yutaro Miyairi; Yuichi Kimura; Koji Masuda; Hidehiko Uchiyama · 2025
Can cats distinguish familiar from unfamiliar humans using olfaction—the sense of smell? Human–cat information exchange is not limited to deliberate signals such as speech or pointing. Body odor can provide a cue without anyone intentionally communicating. No earlier reading required.
-
Dogs outperform cats both in their testability and relying on human pointing gestures: a comparative study
Attila Salamon; Stefania Uccheddu; Melitta Csepregi; Ádám Miklósi; Márta Gácsi · 2023
Can cats use a human’s pointing gesture to locate food, and how does their performance compare with dogs? Crucially, the study separates testability—whether an animal makes a choice—from accuracy when choosing. No earlier reading required.
-
Feline communication strategies when presented with an unsolvable task: the attentional state of the person matters
Lingna Zhang; Katie B. Needham; Serena Juma; Xuemei Si; François Martin · 2021
Do cats change their human-directed behavior when a task becomes impossible, and does it matter whether the person is looking at them? This examines communication initiated by cats, not just their responses to our signals. No earlier reading required.
-
Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives
Saho Takagi; Atsuko Saito; Minori Arahori; Hitomi Chijiiwa; Hikari Koyasu; Miho Nagasawa; Takefumi Kikusui; Kazuo Fujita; Hika Kuroshima · 2022
Can cats connect names used around them with particular familiar individuals, without explicit experimental training? This moves beyond noticing their own name to associations involving others. No earlier reading required.
-
Rapid formation of picture-word association in cats
Saho Takagi; Hikari Koyasu; Miho Nagasawa; Takefumi Kikusui · 2024
Can cats rapidly associate an unfamiliar spoken sound with a picture, and is this association specific to human speech rather than electronic sounds?
-
Social referencing and cat–human communication
I. Merola; M. Lazzaroni; S. Marshall-Pescini; E. Prato-Previde · 2015
Do cats use their owners’ emotional signals about a novel, potentially frightening object to guide their own behavior?
-
Emotion Recognition in Cats
Angelo Quaranta; Serenella d’Ingeo; Rosaria Amoruso; Marcello Siniscalchi · 2020
Do domestic cats look longer at the facial expression matching a simultaneously played emotional vocalization, and does their behavior differ across human and feline signals?
-
Socio-spatial cognition in cats: Mentally mapping owner’s location from voice
Saho Takagi; Hitomi Chijiiwa; Minori Arahori; Atsuko Saito; Kazuo Fujita; Hika Kuroshima · 2021
Do cats respond as if they link an out-of-sight owner's voice to a particular location, rather than simply noticing a new sound source?
-
Feline vocal communication
Chloé Tavernier; Sohail Ahmed; Katherine Albro Houpt; Seong Chan Yeon · 2020
What vocalizations have been described in domestic cats, how can they be classified, and how do social context, individual differences and living environments affect their use?
-
Multimodal Communication in the Human–Cat Relationship: A Pilot Study
Charlotte de Mouzon; Gérard Leboucher · 2023
Does the communication channel affect cats’ responses to a human?
-
Do animals have dialects?
3 sources · citations inside
Group vocal traditions and an individual dolphin’s signature whistle are different ideas. Neither alone establishes human-like language.
-
Discrimination of cat-directed speech from human-directed speech in a population of indoor companion cats (Felis catus)
Charlotte de Mouzon; Marine Gonthier; Gérard Leboucher · 2023
Does discrimination of speech register depend on speaker familiarity?
-
Domestic cats (Felis catus) discriminate their names from other words
Atsuko Saito; Kazutaka Shinozuka; Yuki Ito; Toshikazu Hasegawa · 2019
Can cats distinguish their own names from other spoken words?
-
The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication
Tasmin Humphrey; Leanne Proops; Jemma Forman; Rebecca Spooner; Karen McComb · 2020
Do cats respond differently to human slow blinking?
No notes on this shelf yet
Try another topic or a shorter search. Only approved notes appear here; some topics are still waiting for their first note.