Study Suggests, Your Cat, Tracks Your Movements.<br />Scientists in Japan have found that house cats <br />"mentally map" the location of their owners, <br />even when they are out of sight. .<br />'Newsweek' reports that researchers from the Department <br />of Psychology at Kyoto University in Japan found that cats <br />create mental representations linked to vocal signals. .<br />The study, published in 'PLOS One,' <br />was based on three experiments.<br />One of the experiments relied on <br />vocal recordings of participating cats' owners. .<br />With one speaker in the room and another outside the room, scientists were able to gauge the cats' responses to hearing their owners' voices. .<br />According to 'Variety,' the felines were most surprised when the recording played from within the room. .<br />Scientists believe that this reaction was due to cats' ability to determine their owners' location and know that the audio cue was coming from the wrong place. .<br />Results showed that cats were <br />surprised when their owner appeared to be <br />'teleported' to a new, unexpected location, <br />but they did not react in the same way <br />when tested with non-social stimuli. , Study authors, Department of Psychology <br />at Kyoto University, Japan, via 'Variety'.<br />These results suggest that cats hold <br />a mental representation of the unseen <br />owner and map their owner's location<br />from the owner's voice, showing <br />evidence of socio-spatial cognition, Study authors, Department of Psychology <br />at Kyoto University, Japan, via 'Variety'
