Did we find a copycat? Do as I Do in a domestic cat ( Felis catus )
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Did we find a copycat? Do as I Do in a domestic cat (Felis catus) Claudia Fugazza1 · Andrea Sommese1 · Ákos Pogány1 · Ádám Miklósi1,2 Received: 22 June 2020 / Revised: 20 August 2020 / Accepted: 5 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This study shows evidence of a domestic cat (Felis catus) being able to successfully learn to reproduce human-demonstrated actions based on the Do as I Do paradigm. The subject was trained to reproduce a small set of familiar actions on command “Do it!” before the study began. To test feature–contingent behavioural similarity and control for stimulus enhancement, our test consisted of a modified version of the two-action procedure, combined with the Do as I Do paradigm. Instead of showing two different actions on an object to different subjects, we applied a within-subject design and showed the two actions to the same subject in separate trials. We show evidence that a well-socialized companion cat was able to reproduce actions demonstrated by a human model by reproducing two different actions that were demonstrated on the same object. Our experiment provides the first evidence that the Do as I Do paradigm can be applied to cats, suggesting that the ability to recognize behavioural similarity may fall within the range of the socio-cognitive skills of this species. The ability of reproducing the actions of a heterospecific human model in well-socialized cats may pave the way for future studies addressing cats’ imitative skills. Keywords Social learning · Do as I do · Cat · Two-action method · Imitation · Response facilitation
Introduction Despite an increased research interest in understanding cat behaviour and cognition (e.g., Pongrácz et al. 2019; Vitale Shreve et al., 2017a, 2015, very little is known )about various aspects of their socio-cognitive capacities. Particularly, while social learning and imitation have been in the focus of research in many other species (e.g., orangutans, Call 2001; rats, Heyes et al. 1994; dogs, Topál et al., 2006), we have very limited and context-specific data on cats’ social learning skills. The extant knowledge about social learning in cats typically involves learning how to obtain food from a conspecific demonstrator. Some studies showed that cats tend to pay attention to conspecifics when food is involved Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01428-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Claudia Fugazza [email protected] 1
Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
MTA-ELTE Comparative Ethology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
2
(Adler 1955; Winslow 1944). Kittens were shown to be more likely to press a lever to obtain food if they observed their mother doing so. To some extent, this happened also if they observed an unfamiliar conspecific (Chesler 1969). In the latter study, a control group of kittens that did not observe the demonstration that was included to control f
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