貓給人的印象就是酷，時(shí)而冷漠時(shí)而親近，有時(shí)又很固執(zhí)。但無(wú)論是愛(ài)貓的主人，還是討厭貓的人，從來(lái)就沒(méi)有弄清楚過(guò)貓到底知不知道人類起的名字?，F(xiàn)在科學(xué)家也許可以回答這個(gè)問(wèn)題。

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

也就是說(shuō)，如果貓?jiān)谧ブ魅诵沦I的窗簾往上爬時(shí)聽(tīng)到主人喊它的名字，它并不是聽(tīng)不懂，只是不愿意服從主人的命令。

東京上智大學(xué)的心理學(xué)家齊藤慈子先讓貓聽(tīng)人說(shuō)四個(gè)詞，然后叫名字，觀察期間的叫聲和動(dòng)作，發(fā)現(xiàn)貓?jiān)诼?tīng)到第一個(gè)詞的時(shí)候反應(yīng)強(qiáng)烈，對(duì)后面幾個(gè)詞的反應(yīng)一般。聽(tīng)到自己的名字時(shí)反應(yīng)再次加劇，耳朵向叫出名字的方向扭動(dòng)或者頭轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)去，說(shuō)明貓其實(shí)聽(tīng)懂了自己的名字。

不過(guò)也有科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，貓不會(huì)把名字當(dāng)成自己的一部分，或許可以解釋為何聽(tīng)到主人叫喚名字也無(wú)動(dòng)于衷。

根據(jù)2017年的一項(xiàng)研究，貓的冷漠和狗的反應(yīng)相比簡(jiǎn)直是天壤之別。美國(guó)埃默里大學(xué)的一位神經(jīng)學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，狗真的很愛(ài)主人。

該大學(xué)對(duì)狗的行為研究比齊藤慈子對(duì)貓的研究范圍要廣泛得多，部分原因是狗比貓回應(yīng)更加積極?？茖W(xué)家們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，狗的性格會(huì)隨年齡增長(zhǎng)而變化，并且認(rèn)為狗比貓聰明得多。（財(cái)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.