Did we find a copycat? Do as I Do in a domestic cat (Felis catus).

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 act

SUBMITTER: Fugazza C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7829234 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature