精听第5期：你的猫比你想象中更爱你

你的猫比你想象中更爱你~

We tend to see house cats as 1.______, mostly preferring to engage intheir own kitty business. But that assumption may be 2.______. Because a newstudy finds that, given a choice, Fluffy would probably pick you over herfavorite 3.______. The research—which might give cat owners pause—apurrs in the journal Behavioral Processes.

Scientistshave analyzed what dogs like. And cotton-top tamarins, Galapagos tortoises,even giant pandas. But Kristyn Vitale Shreve, a grad student at Oregon StateUniversity, realized that no one had ever really put 4.______to the test.

SoShreve and her team got 25 house cats and 25 5.______and stuck each in a roomwith a set of several items. In the first round of tests, kitties got to spendtime with objects in four different categories: toys, like a 6.______or astuffed mouse; odors, like a cloth that 7.______or a gerbil; food, like tuna orchicken; and a human, who would pet them or talk to them or play with them.Inthe final round, the top item from each category would be8.______head-to-head-to-head-to-head for the title of kitty's most favoritething.

Theresults? "Our take home message is that although each cat displays an9.______each item," Kristyn Vitale Shreve, "the majority of cats andshelter cats preferred 10.______a human. Followed next by food, then toys, thenscent."

Fullyhalf the cats preferred spending time with people—although tuna did come in aclose second. And six of the 50 test kitties chose to 11.______by refusing tointeract with anything or anyone at all.

Theresults suggest that if you ever want to persuade your feline friend, you mightoffer your attention as a reward.

"Thisresearch is relevant, especially in an 12.______, where preference tests likethese could be used to assess an individual's most preferred item. And thenthat item could be used for training purposes. Or even to serve as 13.______,especially for shelter cats or potentially other captive wild cats to reducenegative behaviors or 14.______ even."

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