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Your Cat Thinks You're Cool

We tend to see housecats as aloof¹ and independent, mostly preferring to engage in their own kitty business. But that assumption may be littered with error. Because a new study finds that, given a choice, Fluffy² would probably pick you over her favorite toy or treat. The research—which might give cat owners pause—apurrs in the journal Behavioral Processes.

我们倾向于以为家猫孤僻独立，大多喜欢自娱自乐。但这种假设可能是错误的。因为一项新的研究发现，如果有所选择，猫猫可能喜欢你胜过玩具或零食。该研究可能会让的主人在行为过程期刊中找到答案。

Scientists have analyzed³ what dogs like. And cotton-top tamarins, Galapagos tortoises, even giant pandas. But Kristyn Vitale Shreve, a grad student at Oregon State University, realized that no one had ever really put feline⁴ predilections⁵ to the test.

科学家分析了狗狗喜欢什么。棉顶绢毛猴、加拉帕戈斯象龟，甚至大熊猫。但俄勒冈州立大学的研究生Kristyn Vitale Shreve发现，没有对猫的偏好进行测试过。

So Shreve and her team got 25 housecats and 25 shelter cats and stuck each in a room with a set of several items. In the first round of tests, kitties got to spend time with objects in four different categories: toys, like a feather or a stuffed mouse; odors, like a cloth that smells of catnip or a gerbil; food, like tuna or chicken; and a human, who would pet them or talk to them or play with them.

所以Shreve和她的团队找到25只家猫和25只收容所的猫，在实验室里进行了分组试验。在第一轮测试中，小猫要在4四个不同的类别对象上花费时间：玩具，如羽毛或毛绒小鼠;气味，像布气味的薄荷或沙鼠;食品，如金枪鱼或鸡肉;一个人，宠爱他们或跟他们玩的人。

In the final round, the top item from each category would be pitted ead-to-head-to-head-to-head for the title of kitty’s most favorite thing.The results? “Our take home message is that although each cat displays an individual preference for each item,” Kristyn Vitale Shreve, “the majority of cats and shelter cats preferred interaction with a human. Followed next by food, then toys, then scent⁶.”

在最后一轮中，从每个类别项目中脱颖而出的猫猫最喜欢的是什么呢?“我们得到的非常惊喜的消息是，虽然每只猫在每个项目中都存在偏好，”Kristyn Vitale Shreve说，“大多数猫和收容所猫都喜欢与人类互动。其次是食物，然后是玩具，最后是气味。”

Fully⁷ half the cats preferred spending time with people—although tuna did come in a close second. And 6 of the 50 test kitties chose to keep it finicky by refusing to interact with anything or anyone at all.The results suggest that if you ever want to purrsuade your feline friend, you might offer your attention as a reward.

有一半的猫喜欢和人呆在一起，尽管金枪鱼近在眼前。50个测试的小猫中仅有6个拒绝与任何人或任何事互动。这个结果表明，如果你想说服你的猫猫，你可以把对他的关注作为奖励。

“This research is relevant, especially in an applied⁸ setting, where preference tests like these could be used to assess an individual’s most preferred item. And then that item could be used for training purposes. Or even to serve as enrichment, especially for shelter cats or potentially other captive wild cats to reduce negative behaviors or even stereotypic⁹ behaviors.”

“这项研究是相关的，特别是在一个应用程序的设置中的偏好测试，如这些可以用来评估一个人的最喜欢的项目。然后，该项目可达成培训目的。甚至作为改进措施，尤其是对收容所的猫或其他潜在的圈养野生猫来说，减少消极行为甚至刻板行为。”