BEIJING, July 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Researchers at the University of Sussex in Britain have discovered that cats employ a "soliciting purr" to seduce their owners into giving them more attention and food. The study, published in the July 15 edition of Current Biology journal, says the purr proves irresistible because a high-frequency element embedded within it, similar to a cry or meow, subtly triggers a sense of urgency.
The team of Sussex psychologists discovered that cats appear to be exploiting innate tendencies that humans have for nurturing their own offspring. However, in this case the felines subtly bury their "feed me" messages in an otherwise pleasant purr. Lead author Dr Karen McComb initiated the study because her own cat, Pepo, had the knack of consistently waking her up in the mornings with insistent purring.
"I wondered why this purring sounded so annoying and was so difficult to ignore. Talking with other cat owners, I found that some of them - including co-author Anna Taylor - also had cats who showed similar behavior," Dr McComb said.
Testing human responses to different purring types she said most could distinguish between the different purrs. "When humans were played purrs recorded while cats were actively seeking food at equal volume to purrs recorded in non-solicitation contexts, even those with no experience of cats judged the 'solicitation' purrs to be more urgent and less pleasant," McComb explained.
For those with a deep suspicion of cats and their motivations, this may well be the scientific proof they have been waiting for. New research has finally laid bare the degree to which cats can exploit humans. "If you ask people who own cats what they do when they get up, they say they feed their cats. Even before they have a cup of coffee. Cats are very good at getting their own way," Dr McComb said.
(Agencies)
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