Do cats understand cause and effect? Yes, they do have a competent understanding of cause and effect, although it is not as advanced as in humans. Moreover, aside from having a decent grasping of cause and effect as concept, studies and anecdotes have shown that cats often demonstrate it in various behaviors and activities.
Explaining Cause and Effect Thinking in Cats
Some Examples
Most experienced cat owners will attest to the fact that their pets have demonstrated some form of problem-solving and repeated behavioral quirks. This rage from being able to navigate through the different parts of a house or responding or reacting to what could be considered cues. The following are some of the documented examples:
• Linking Sounds to Outcomes: One of the more popular examples of cats understanding cause and effect is hearing a bag of treats being shaken or a cabinet where treats are kept being opened. Most cats would perk up, come running, meow or vocalize, or display other excited behaviors in anticipation of feeding time.
• Crying or Meowing For Attention: The “meow” people hear from adult domestic cats is largely a post-domestication outcome. It is thought to be an extension of a plea for attention observed in kittens. The assumption is that cats have learned that meowing at humans often results in getting what they want.
• Object Manipulation Instances: Some experiments involved cats trained to press buttons or use levers to receive food from a dispenser. The cats then learn that the action causes the dispenser to activate. Other anecdotes from pet owners include cats learning to open doors or cupboards from observations and repeated trial.
Learning Routes
Cats understand cause and effect and showcase related thinking and behavior through associative learning, observation, and problem-solving. The study of Saho Takagi et al. showed that housecats can quickly learn to associate words and pictures in a manner similar to human babies and dogs. This demonstrate their inclination toward associative learning.
Researchers have also identified that cats learn from their environment and the social partners they encounter like humans and other cats. These animals specifically learn via associative learning processes of classical and operant conditioning and non-associative learning processes through habituation and sensitization. The following are further details:
• Operant Conditioning: Cats can learn that certain actions lead to specific outcomes. They can open doors, drawers, or solve puzzles when they associate an action with a reward. This is called operant conditioning or learning by consequence.
• Observational Learning: Some cats learn by watching their social partners or humans or other animals in their environment. One of the popular examples is a cat learning how to manipulate and open a cabinet by watching a human do it.
• Avoid Behavior Inclination: Cats remember negative experiences and avoid actions that led to discomfort or fear. For example, if knocking over a vase led to a loud crash and scolding, they might avoid similar actions in the future.
• Classical Conditioning: They can also expect outcomes via classical conditioning. This is more about associating stimuli rather than a conscious understanding of cause and effect. A cat getting excited by the rattling of a food container is an example.
Understanding of Physics
It is also interesting to underscore the fact that cats also understand basic physics. This was shown in an earlier research by S. Takagi and colleagues. Note that the researchers wanted to find out if cats can use sounds to predict whether something is inside a container and whether the sound logically matches what they see happen afterward.
The research was a three-part experiment. The first was a shaking phase in which the researchers shook an opaque container. Sometimes the container made a rattling sound. Sometimes it did not. The turning-over phase involved the researchers turning the container upside down. Sometimes an object fell out. Sometimes nothing fell out.
Moreover, in the third part called the exploration phase, the researchers allowed the cats to observe and explore the setup afterward. The researchers watched how long the cats stared during the turning-over phase. Longer looking time in the incongruent condition would mean the cat noticed something unusual or unexpected. This suggested an expectation.
Findings showed that cats looked longer in the incongruent situations. This indicated surprise and suggested that they could use causal reasoning. The cats expected an object to fall out if they heard it rattling inside the container. They were confused when it did not. Cats essentially have a basic understanding of cause-and-effect involving sounds.
The aforementioned study also suggested that cats have an understanding of basic physics or an intuitive grasp of how the physical world typically works. These include object permanence or knowing things exist even when unseen, causal relationships or knowing that actions lead to predictable effects, and violations of expectations.
Limitations
Cats can demonstrate a basic and experience-based understanding of cause and effect. This is more apparent when it impacts or is related with their needs like food, play, and safety. Hence, although their intelligence are often underestimated due to their independent and nonchalant nature, they are excellent learners that can both learn and apply what they have learned.
It is still important to reiterate the fact that they do not have human-like ability to reason through complex chains of cause and effect. Their overall understanding is typically immediate and often associated with their direct experience. Cats are less likely to understand delayed consequences or engage in complicated and long-term planning several steps ahead.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Takagi, S., Koyasu, H., Nagasawa, M., and Kikusui, T. 2024. “Rapid Formation of Picture-word Association in Cats.” Scientific Reports. 14(1). DOI: 1038/s41598-024-74006-2
- Takagi, S., Arahori, M., Chijiiwa, H., Tsuzuki, M., Hataji, Y., and Fujita, K. 2016. “There is No Ball Without Noise: Cats’ Prediction of an Object from Noise.” Animal Cognition. 19(5): 1043-1047. DOI: 1007/s10071-016-1001-6