Multimodal Communication in the Human-Cat Relationship: A Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT: Across all species, communication implies that an emitter sends signals to a receiver, through one or more channels. Cats can integrate visual and auditory signals sent by humans and modulate their behaviour according to the valence of the emotion perceived. However, the specific patterns and channels governing cat-to-human communication are poorly understood. This study addresses whether, in an extraspecific interaction, cats are sensitive to the communication channel used by their human interlocutor. We examined three types of interactions-vocal, visual, and bimodal-by coding video clips of 12 cats living in cat cafés. In a fourth (control) condition, the human interlocutor refrained from emitting any communication signal. We found that the modality of communication had a significant eff

SUBMITTER: de Mouzon C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10177025 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature