Cats’ (Felis catus) communicative behaviour towards humans was explored using a social referencing paradigm in the presence of a potentially frightening object. One group of cats observed their owner delivering a positive emotional message, whereas another group received a negative emotional message. The aim was to evaluate whether cats use the emotional information provided by their owners about a novel/unfamiliar object to guide their own behaviour towards it. We assessed the presence of social referencing, in terms of referential looking towards the owner (defined as looking to the owner immediately before or after looking at the object), the behavioural regulation based on the owner’s emotional (positive vs negative) message (vocal and facial), and the observational conditioning following the owner’s actions towards the object. Most cats (79 %) exhibited referential looking between the owner and the object, and also to some extent changed their behaviour in line with the emotional message given by the owner. Results are discussed in relation to social referencing in other species (dogs in particular) and cats’ social organization and domestication history.

Social referencing and cat-human communication / I. Merola, S. Marshall Pescini, E. Prato-Previde. - In: ANIMAL COGNITION. - ISSN 1435-9448. - 18:3(2015 May 01), pp. 639-648. [10.1007/s10071-014-0832-2]

Social referencing and cat-human communication

E. Prato-Previde
Ultimo
2015

Abstract

Cats’ (Felis catus) communicative behaviour towards humans was explored using a social referencing paradigm in the presence of a potentially frightening object. One group of cats observed their owner delivering a positive emotional message, whereas another group received a negative emotional message. The aim was to evaluate whether cats use the emotional information provided by their owners about a novel/unfamiliar object to guide their own behaviour towards it. We assessed the presence of social referencing, in terms of referential looking towards the owner (defined as looking to the owner immediately before or after looking at the object), the behavioural regulation based on the owner’s emotional (positive vs negative) message (vocal and facial), and the observational conditioning following the owner’s actions towards the object. Most cats (79 %) exhibited referential looking between the owner and the object, and also to some extent changed their behaviour in line with the emotional message given by the owner. Results are discussed in relation to social referencing in other species (dogs in particular) and cats’ social organization and domestication history.
Social referencing; Cats; Gaze alternation; Social learning; Human–cat communication
Settore M-PSI/01 - Psicologia Generale
Settore M-PSI/02 - Psicobiologia e Psicologia Fisiologica
1-mag-2015
Article (author)
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
art:10.1007/s10071-014-0832-2.pdf

accesso riservato

Tipologia: Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione 303.88 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
303.88 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia
__ddat02_staffhome_jpartridge_Social referencing Isabella Merola.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Post-print, accepted manuscript ecc. (versione accettata dall'editore)
Dimensione 503.44 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
503.44 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/266736
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 26
  • Scopus 60
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 55
social impact