貓給人的印象就是酷，時而冷漠時而親近,，有時又很固執(zhí),。但無論是愛貓的主人，還是討厭貓的人,，從來就沒有弄清楚過貓到底知不知道人類起的名字?，F(xiàn)在科學家也許可以回答這個問題。

東京的一位心理學家研究了生活在不同地區(qū)的貓,，大概有78只,，認定貓知道主人在叫自己的名字，只不過回應方式跟狗截然不同,。

也就是說,，如果貓在抓著主人新買的窗簾往上爬時聽到主人喊它的名字,，它并不是聽不懂，只是不愿意服從主人的命令,。

東京上智大學的心理學家齊藤慈子先讓貓聽人說四個詞,，然后叫名字，觀察期間的叫聲和動作,，發(fā)現(xiàn)貓在聽到第一個詞的時候反應強烈,，對后面幾個詞的反應一般。聽到自己的名字時反應再次加劇,，耳朵向叫出名字的方向扭動或者頭轉(zhuǎn)過去,，說明貓其實聽懂了自己的名字。

不過也有科學家認為,，貓不會把名字當成自己的一部分,，或許可以解釋為何聽到主人叫喚名字也無動于衷。

根據(jù)2017年的一項研究,，貓的冷漠和狗的反應相比簡直是天壤之別,。美國埃默里大學的一位神經(jīng)學家發(fā)現(xiàn)，狗真的很愛主人,。

該大學對狗的行為研究比齊藤慈子對貓的研究范圍要廣泛得多,，部分原因是狗比貓回應更加積極?？茖W家們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn),，狗的性格會隨年齡增長而變化，并且認為狗比貓聰明得多,。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

Cats have a trademark on cool. They can be aloof, affectionate or obstinate. But both their loving owners and most ardent opponents have never really known whether they understand their own names. Scientists now might have the answer.

A psychologist in Tokyo, after studying some 78 cats in a variety of locations, has determined that felines can distinguish their own names when owners speak them. But they don’t respond to them in the same way, say, a dog would.

It’s not that your cat doesn’t hear you call its name when he or she is clawing its way up your new drapes. It just doesn’t feel like acknowledging you.

Atsuko Saito, a psychologist at Sophia University in Tokyo, tracked vocalizations and movements of felines as they were played four nouns, then their name. Cats reacted strongly to the first word, but less to the following ones. When their name was spoken, however, reactions increased again, with ears twitching or heads turning toward the sound, indicating comprehension.

Other scientists, though, say cats don’t associate their name as part of their identity, which might explain why they seem to ignore their owners when called.

The aloofness of cats is a far cry from a 2017 study on dogs, when an Emory University neuroscientist found that canines truly do love their owners.

Behavioral research on dogs is much more extensive than it is on cats, in part because dogs are much more reactive. Scientists have learned that dogs personalities change with age and believe that dogs are significantly smarter than cats.