chairman meow

[nervous]

so, whilst refusing to let my bladder win and get out of bed this morning i was talking to my cat, and it occurred to me that she seems often to understand me. not complicated things obviously (though were working on that: tomorrow's agenda includes the Aristotelian theory of Helio stasis, and boobs).

anyhoo, what I'm wondering is has anyone ever done a study into what part of language cats/ dogs/ animals 'understand'? i wonder if its that they recognize the familiar 'sound' of a word (they're name, time for food etc) or they recognize the tone of a word ('no' etc) or whether they to just learn to recognize associated actions (i say 'food', and some god-awful bowl of stench arrives), or is it maybe the phonetic make up of words they respond to? i tried using words rich with plosive sounds this morning, and they seemed to illicit a greater response than words with sibilant sounds or rich in consonants.

OR, do they to some extent understand the words themselves meaning? for example, my last ex-Mrs Nervy had a dog called Oscar (i really loved him, much more than her) who would get really excited when you mentioned pigs-ears to him, cos he really liked them. now, he didn't always get a pigs ear when it was mentioned so it wouldn't necessarily follow that it was purely word- action association.

does anyone know how it works? id be interested to find out.

[puggit]

The cat whisperer

Teach yourself and find out

[Nick P]

i like the pavlovs dog experiment....every time the dog was fed they would ring a bell....then when the bell rang and there was no food, the dog would salivate.

A bit like me when my mrs mentions rumpy really.....every time i hear a bell i have to crack one out

[Trooper2]

Let's revisit boobs for a minute shall we?

Actually from what I've read/heard it's your voices pitch and tone or inflection.

[nervous]

Nick P said:

i like the Pavlov's dog experiment....every time the dog was fed they would ring a bell....then when the bell rang and there was no food, the dog would salivate.

but thats purely response through conditioning (and theres some less pleasant aspects to Pavlov's experiments). of course, animals, like humans to some extent can be taught NOT to do something for fear of the repercussion, and be taught they HAVE to do something for survival. but I'm wondering if animals can voluntarily understand language, as a means of communicating, not just one directional instruction following.

[Nick P]

i would say so as animals are used for military purposes to carry out 'missions'

[T5-R]

Think this sums things up nicely

[nervous]

Trooper2 said:

Let's revisit boobs for a minute shall we? Actually from what I've read/heard it's your voices pitch and tone or inflection.

thats an interesting suggestion. i tried varying pitch etc when calling them for breakfast this morning and several tones/ inflections illicited no response whatsoever.

[nervous]

T5-R said:

Think this sums things up nicely

strangest thing, i very nearly put that in my original post

[paulie-mafia]

I'm sure cats can understand what you say, even if it is limited to short instructions or an understanding based on the tone of your voice or whatever you happen to point at. My last cat used to copy me, even down to the fact he'd climb into bed and lie with his head on the pillow and would only drink out of a glass like mine and never his cat bowl.

[nervous]

Nick P said:

i would say so as animals are used for military purposes to carry out 'missions'

but is that conversing?

[Trooper2]

Nervy, read this, I'm sure it pertains to cats as well:

www.understandinganimals.com/article/12

[r988]

nervous said:

Nick P said: i like the Pavlov's dog experiment....every time the dog was fed they would ring a bell....then when the bell rang and there was no food, the dog would salivate. but thats purely response through conditioning (and theres some less pleasant aspects to Pavlov's experiments). of course, animals, like humans to some extent can be taught NOT to do something for fear of the repercussion, and be taught they HAVE to do something for survival. but I'm wondering if animals can voluntarily understand language, as a means of communicating, not just one directional instruction following.

Does the cat communicate back? I know ours would sit by the door and meow when it wanted to be let out or would hang around near the food to indicate it wanted to be fed (pretty much any time that it wasn't sleeping ). If they are asleep and you wake them up to move them they give you a dirty look as well.

[nervous]

paulie-mafia said:

I'm sure cats can understand what you say, even if it is limited to short instructions or an understanding based on the tone of your voice or whatever you happen to point at. My last cat used to copy me, even down to the fact he'd climb into bed and lie with his head on the pillow and would only drink out of a glass like mine and never his cat bowl.

wow. my girl cat does exactly this.

however, the boy cat will only use a mug and has his own set of bunk beds. the snobby git.

[Nick P]

well, if i say to monkey 'A'...."hey monkey 'A', put on this back pack, get into this building, press button 'B', steal tape 'C', and come back to me"...i'd say that was pretty much conversing....

[nervous]

Nick P said:

well, if i say to monkey 'A'...."hey monkey 'A', put on this back pack, get into this building, press button 'B', steal tape 'C', and come back to me"...i'd say that was pretty much conversing....

no, thats understanding and following instructions through conditioning and training. if he returned to unit and said 'well, ill be ed if im going all the way over there again just for a boney-M tape' that'd be conversing.

[Nick P]

nervous said:

Nick P said: well, if i say to monkey 'A'...."hey monkey 'A', put on this back pack, get into this building, press button 'B', steal tape 'C', and come back to me"...i'd say that was pretty much conversing.... no, thats understanding and following instructions through conditioning and training. if he returned to unit and said 'well, ill be ed if im going all the way over there again just for a boney-M tape' that'd be conversing.

so what your saying is you want to find out your cats musical tastes, what it wants for dinner and favourite sexual position?

[nervous]

r988 said:

[ Does the cat communicate back? I know ours would sit by the door and meow when it wanted to be let out or would hang around near the food to indicate it wanted to be fed (pretty much any time that it wasn't sleeping ). If they are asleep and you wake them up to move them they give you a dirty look as well.

dirty looks a specialty. but the cat DOES communicate back. they are on occasions both pretty vocal and its not always when they want food or attention or dead mice. thats what got me wondering.

equally, the girl will often sit indoors watching the birds (takes after me) happily chirping away in a totally non threatening manner, seemingly just commenting or trying to communicate. i say non threatening as she makes no efforts to approach or anything, ever. the boy on the other hand, kills all.

[nervous]

Nick P said:

nervous said: Nick P said: well, if i say to monkey 'A'...."hey monkey 'A', put on this back pack, get into this building, press button 'B', steal tape 'C', and come back to me"...i'd say that was pretty much conversing.... no, thats understanding and following instructions through conditioning and training. if he returned to unit and said 'well, ill be ed if I'm going all the way over there again just for a boney-M tape' that'd be conversing. so what your saying is you want to find out your cats musical tastes, what it wants for dinner and favourite sexual position?

no. i know that already.

as a further example, sometimes when they're waiting for their bowl of putrid stink i suggest the different 'flavours' and some will illicit a stronger response than others. and thats their favorite one. if i do that test, get a strong response to a certain one, then give them a different one, they wont eat it. riddle me that, Sarge.

[ukbob]

We had a black and white cat, and we'd often colour the white bits in (most of it then ) with fluorescent markers, tear a page out the telephone directory and roll a foot long spliff as thick as a cigar (Where I lived dope was dirt cheap )

We would all get really stoned, including the cat which didnt seem to mind being passed around with the joint, and although we couldnt understand what it was saying we knew it was talking because we all receive cattish thoughts telepathically. Mostly it just lay on its back, and smiled. Perhaps cats just dont have much to say in this day and age, especially now that the worlds gone to the dogs.