Two types of memory
Many experiments have been carried out on cats in laboratory and real conditions, allowing one to evaluate the mental abilities of an individual. During their conduct, it was revealed that she has two types of memory.
- Short-term memory, which lasts no more than 16 hours. During this time, the cat may find food that it recently hid or a toy.
- Long-term memory that lasts a lifetime. For example, an individual remembers its previous owners for a long time, and if it gets lost, then there is a high probability that it will still find its way home.
It is worth noting that cats, just like all living creatures, are characterized by age-related changes. This means that young pets absorb information much better and retain it longer than older cats.
Duration of information storage
Experiments with cats and other animals made it possible to identify 2 types of memory in them:
Short-term. This mental function allows you to perceive any events, but retains information for only a short time (no more than 27 seconds). If the event is not repeated, then the “record” loses its relevance and is erased under the influence of a new piece of information - this is how the brain protects itself from overload and “cleanses itself.”
Long-term. The long-term “imprint” of events is very selective, but resistant to influences that destroy short-term memory
This mechanism records a single phenomenon or incident that is of increased importance for an individual and stores it for a long time. This is why long-term memory in animals is called “specialized memory.”
About memory capacity
Zoologists and livestock breeders have been conducting experiments for a long time, trying to find out what kind of memory cats have and how long it lasts. They wanted to estimate the amount of memory, but, unfortunately, they have not yet been able to do this. What is this connected with? The fact is that in the course of scientific research it was not possible to recognize in which cases an animal performs actions based on its own memory, and when it does this according to its inherent innate instinct.
But still, scientists are faced with the problem that it becomes unclear how a cat remembers a lot of information if its brain is much smaller than that of a human. It was found that the animal’s memory has a powerful “filter” that helps filter out unnecessary information and remembers only what is necessary for existence.
Details
Mechanics of cat memory
Human memory differs in mechanics from cat memory in one more aspect.
A person quite easily assimilates a large amount of information, and this information does not necessarily relate to ensuring his life. Often a person remembers something that may never be useful to him in practice. It's not like that with cats. The animal remembers only those facts that will later be used to satisfy its primary needs. Please note that the cat remembers where the food is and when it is hungry, it pulls you to this place. The cat remembers where the treats are put away, where the tray is and whether it is clean. She doesn’t remember the TV series that she may have watched while sitting next to the owner. This is simply of no use to her and is not applicable to her life support.
An interesting confirmation of the short-term nature and selectivity of memory is the moment a cat raises kittens. As a female cat, it is important to remember the algorithm for feeding and training kittens. She improves it with every litter. But after the cat grows up, it forgets about its offspring. She has already let him go into adulthood and no longer experiences any tender feelings.
INTERESTING: the most active period of development of the memory array occurs in kittens from 2 to 7 months. During this period, the baby responds well to training and is able to remember a maximum of behavioral patterns and requirements from a person.
Also, a cat, having learned to open cabinets in the kitchen in one apartment, does not immediately begin to do this in a new one. Yes, she is familiar with the subject, yes, the algorithm of actions does not immediately disappear from her brain, but nevertheless, before repeating the skill in a new room, she will study it again in order to compare the experience accumulated in memory and apply it.
Memory capacity in cats
The cat's brain stores just the right amount of memory that is important for survival. Yard cats remember how to behave with people, what to expect from dogs and how to behave in a concrete urban in order to survive.
A domestic cat does not need to remember the survival algorithm, but is very good at filtering information into its brain, for example, about guests and strangers in the house. You've probably noticed that a cat remembers regular visitors, even if it's a caregiver. And he may not perceive people close to you at all, who are rarely in your home.
Also, the cat will always remember the one who offended her. Be sure that the cat will remember an attempt on the tail, squeezing or an unpleasant voice. The cat also remembers the pranks of children, so if it is ever offended by a child of a particular age group, the cat will treat all other children with distrust and sometimes with aggression.
But we can’t talk about specific gigabytes of cat memory. Many skills become reflexes and are associated with instincts, thereby not specifically loading the areas of the brain responsible for memory.
INTERESTING: a cat always remembers its owners. Even when lost, a cat remembers its person by smell, even if a lot of time has passed. But forgetting how he got lost last time is not uncommon. This is evidenced by the facts of domestic cats repeatedly escaping through the entrance.
Learning ability
A caring owner is concerned not only with the question of what kind of memory cats have, but also whether it can be trained in order to increase the mental abilities of the pet. As zoologists assure, this is not necessary, since the kitten is taught all the necessary skills by its mother. When living together with an adult in the same house, he will observe and learn from her. If the kitten was weaned from its mother early, it will still learn the skills necessary for life, but at the level of its own instincts. If a person still needs to influence this natural process, then this can be done in several ways.
- Add more vitamins to your pet's diet.
- In addition to food, give natural products, in particular fish and meat.
- Carry out training on your own, for example, moving a bowl or bed to a new place, and then check how quickly the individual gets used to the new conditions.
- You can let the kitten out for a walk and see if he finds his way home on his own, but at this time you need to carefully monitor him so that he does not get lost.
According to zoologists, the optimal age of an animal for memory development is 2–5 years.
How does a cat's brain work?
Looking at your cat lying next to you, have you ever wondered what is going on in your pet's head right now?
Researchers are calling our time the “golden age of canine cognition,” as laboratories around the world are set up to study the brains and intelligence of man’s best friend. Unfortunately, things are more complicated with cats, and the brain function of these pets is not so easy to study. Wayward animals often refuse to “cooperate” and cannot be used for objective and large-scale research. However, despite the difficulties, today it is already possible to draw conclusions about how exactly the cat’s brain works and what affects its activity.
The cat's brain is a complex organ responsible for processing information received from the body and controlling movements. Anatomically speaking, it is similar to the brain of any other mammal and is made up of millions of neurons connected to other cells. The cat's brain consumes 20% of the blood pumped by the heart, and by weight is equal to approximately 1% of body weight. However, to assess an animal's intelligence, it is not the size of the organ itself that is important, but its structure. By the way, it is 90% identical to the human one.
The cerebral cortex is designed primarily to perceive information received from the auditory organs. This is extremely important for a cat, which is a hunter by nature. The interaction of the organs of smell, touch and vision with the pet’s brain also occurs through the cortex. The gray matter of a cat's brain is responsible for such seemingly simple but vital actions as heartbeat, yawning and blinking. The cerebellum is a kind of “engine” of your pet: thanks to it, the animal walks, runs, jumps and maintains balance. The hemispheres of the brain, which the brainstem connects to the central nervous system, are responsible for the cat’s ability to acquire and apply new knowledge, experience a wide range of emotions and demonstrate certain behaviors.
Hormones produced by the cat's brain regulate most of the pet's body functions. For example, oxytocin (stimulates the process of labor) and antidiuretic hormone (regulates urine concentration) are produced by the hypothalamus, and growth hormones and melatonin (involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness) are produced by the pituitary gland.
There are 300 million neurons in the cat's cerebral cortex, compared to, for example, 160 million in dogs. What can a pet do thanks to such an “arsenal”?
The cerebral cortex not only controls the higher functions of rational thinking, but is also responsible for solving assigned problems. In addition, it is a kind of storage place for short-term and long-term memory. Research has shown that cats' ability to remember and use information for short periods of time (called primary or short-term memory) lasts about a minute and declines rapidly after just 10 seconds. However, long-term memory in pets is much more seriously developed and can only be impaired due to age-related changes or illness. Cats learn by watching and doing: opening doors, responding to the sound of a bell, pressing switches. According to scientists, these skills and the memories associated with them exist in the minds of pets for 10 years or more. The cat's memory of an event or place is associated with the emotions they experienced in the given circumstances.
If an object slips out of sight, for example, is hidden behind another thing or placed in a drawer, we know that it has not ceased to exist. This concept, called “object permanence,” seems quite simple to adults, but not all animals (or even small children) understand it. Cats, on the other hand, are able to hold a disappeared object in their minds and reason about where it might be. Try hiding a toy or treat in a closet when your pet is present. Most likely, the cat will sit nearby and wait for the object to appear again: she knows that it has not ceased to exist. This ability is very important for a hunting cat, because if the prey is hidden or simply disappeared around the corner, this is not a reason to stop the pursuit.
The complex structure of the cat's brain determines several other abilities of our pets. Cats have a sense of time. Pets know very well exactly when they will be fed, and they always begin to ask the owner for food “on schedule.” Another example: when you return home after work, the cat (if it had such a habit to begin with) will greet you in the hallway. However, if you break your usual schedule and arrive much earlier, your pet may hesitate and not come out to meet you. Additionally, cats are apparently able to differentiate between larger amounts of something and smaller ones. Scientists have noticed that animals easily distinguish a group of two objects from a group of three, etc.
In conclusion, it should be noted that intense brain activity helps cats understand what exactly their owner wants from them. This often happens through “reading” gestures. So, if you put two bowls in front of your pet, one empty and the other filled with food, but do it in such a way that the cat does not see the contents of either of them and does not smell anything, it should be difficult for the pet to find food. However, your furry friend will cope with this task “excellently” if you gesture to him in the direction of the correct bowl. This suggests that the cat has what scientists call “theory of mind,” that is, the ability to attribute knowledge, desires and intentions to another being, in this case a person.
Cats and people
We should also talk about what kind of memory a cat has for people. Perhaps the largest number of experiments have been conducted on this topic. The cat was placed in the hands of a person, where it remained for several hours. Then they were launched into a room with a group of people, where the animal had to find the person who had it in his arms. As it turned out, only a few coped with this test.
Cats are indeed capable of remembering people, but only those with whom they have lived for several years. But in this case, the sense of smell is triggered - cats only remember the smell of their owner.
General information
The second part of the experiment tested long-term memory. The bowls were also demonstratively hidden, but the cats were allowed into the room only after 24 hours. The result was not so good in terms of how many cats remembered everything. Some of them ran towards the stern, still confidently. Some of the experimental subjects sniffed the shelter and looked for food. And some of the cats showed no interest in the search at all.
The conclusion from this study is simple - cats have short-term memory in the vast majority, but long-term memory is not observed in all individuals of the species. Therefore, you can judge what kind of memory a cat has over time only by looking at each individual cat.
INTERESTING: in cats, their ability to remember decreases with age in the same way as in a person or dog. The mechanisms of both long-term and short-term memory suffer.
Some interesting facts
In the UK, a cat named Mark left his house and got lost. For a long time he lived in another place, but after 6 years of travel he was able to remember the way home, in addition, he joyfully jumped into the lap of his beloved owner.
A similar incident occurred in Rostov-on-Don. A young family was moving to Lugansk for permanent residence, but for unknown reasons, their cat disappeared along the way. The neighbors' surprise knew no bounds when five weeks later they found him on the threshold of their home. Accordingly, speaking about memory in cats, it is worth noting that there are pets with special intellectual abilities.
“The years passed. The storm is a rebellious gust..."
But will the cat remember the person in a year? Here it all depends on how big a role your pet has assigned to you in his life.
Cats' memory for people is selective and records only what is vital for the animal - both with a plus and a minus sign.
For example, the owners of one mustachioed dog, who had undergone some very unpleasant procedures at the veterinary clinic, a year later invited Aibolit, who treated the pet, to their home. Over the past period of time, the doctor and the patient have never seen each other. And it was very funny for everyone to watch how, upon seeing the “offender,” the cat, on its belly, tried to quietly leave the corridor where, according to tradition, it had gone out to greet the guest.
And another cat, fed from a nipple by a teenage boy, immediately recognized his savior in the brave soldier who had returned from the army. The cat's joy, they say, knew no bounds, although two years have passed since the separation.
Features of cat intelligence
It is worth talking separately about other intellectual characteristics of the cat.
- They are able to follow people’s verbal instructions, for example, to approach their call or, on the contrary, to run away when given the command “scurry.”
- They can recognize the mood of the owner.
- Each owner can notice that the pet even has a certain washing procedure, which he always adheres to.
- They easily get used to the daily routine, they know when it is time to play with their beloved owner, eat, sleep or walk.
So, what kind of memory do cats have? As it turned out, in general it ranges from 16 hours. But its volume is still unknown. These are unique creatures that remember only the information that they need for a full-fledged life and filter out all unnecessary details.
Does memory help learning?
Observation and experience allow cats to learn everything they need to live a comfortable life. Through memory, they choose what will be useful and what allows them to respond in the most appropriate way the next time the same situation occurs. Memory works both at home and in nature, since from childhood they watch their mother to learn everything they need. This process of learning through memory is related to the feelings the cat felt during the experience, good or bad. Thus, they respond to food-related stimuli, such as running away from people or animals that were trying to harm them.
This system allows the cat to remain safe while at the same time identifying familiar people and remembering all the positive things associated with them; such as delicious food, affection and hours of play! What a cat learns is directly related to the benefits they can gain from that learning. If they find that it doesn't suit them, it will likely be resolved by their short-term memory. This is why it is so difficult in most homes to prevent them from scratching in certain areas. Although you can train your pet to use a scratching post, it is not always possible to train them.
If your pet goes for a walk
With the onset of spring, many domestic cats awaken their ancient instincts: the animal runs away from a cozy home in search of adventure and a cute partner. During such periods, seeing the owner passing nearby on the street, the pet may not recognize him.
This behavior does not mean at all that the cat has forgotten its owners and does not recognize them. Most likely, the pet is so busy with its cat business that it does not want to be distracted. Such cases do not at all affect the reasoning for how long cats remember their owners. Of course, they remember, because in about a week the emaciated but happy pet will return home and become affectionate and lazy again.
Do cats remember?
Even in the last century, zoologists conducted experiments to clarify the question of what kind of memory cats have, and whether they have developed short-term and long-term memory. Hungry animals were shown their favorite food. Then, in front of their eyes, food was hidden under one of the overturned boxes, after which the cats were taken out of the room.
The essence of the actions was the same, only the animals were taken out of the premises for a day. The results have changed. Some cats simply forgot about the hidden food and did not try to look for it, while others sniffed all the boxes, trying to figure out where the smell of the treat was coming from. That is, they did not remember which drawer the food was under. So, long-term memory in these animals is less developed than short-term memory.
What else are the features of this mental process? It has been proven that it is selective in pets. You and I can remember a huge amount of information from different areas of life, past events, images, sounds, names. Much of the above does not play any role in a person’s life.
But cats remember what is important to them
The more important an object, circumstance, or event is for them, the easier they will remember it. For example, a stray animal will constantly return to the house or cafe where it was fed once
After all, this event is extremely important for the cat. An experienced mother cat cares for kittens in the second or third litter more carefully, because she remembers how she raised the cubs in previous times.
And this is another proof that these animals have long-term memory. But it also has its own time frame. After all, when the offspring grows up and they are distributed, then after a certain period of time, if the mother cat meets one of the cubs, then she simply does not recognize him, because she does not remember.
In the early 1970s, zoologists conducted a simple experiment to find out which memory is better developed in cats: short-term or long-term. Hungry cats were shown their favorite food, hidden in front of the animals under one of the overturned boxes, and then the cats were taken out of the room for half an hour.
The second part of the experiment was carried out under the same conditions, but the cats were taken out of the room for a day. Now the results have changed: some cats did not even try to look for food, others sniffed the boxes (that is, they remembered that there was food somewhere, but did not remember where). It would seem obvious that long-term memory in cats is less developed, but not everything is so simple.
Does the cat remember what happened to it many years ago?
Cat old age: what to change in the conditions of detention
Cats are very good at remembering past events if they aroused strong emotions in them. For example, a cat that was thrown into the bushes by its ruthless owners right in its carrier will be terribly afraid of carriers and all closed spaces all its life, because it received truly unforgettable emotions during its stay in it.
There is also the so-called memory of ancestors, when a cat, no matter how domesticated it is, will always hunt birds and mice that come into its field of vision. This is due to the special instinct of the hunter, which is inherent in every cat by nature and is unlikely to ever be eradicated.
