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貓咪通常被認為是比較獨立的動物，大多數(shù)人認為貓很冷漠，過著相當(dāng)孤獨的生活，好像在它們眼里并沒有“主人”這個概念，更不會對人有什么依戀性。但是，俄勒岡州立大學(xué)的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，事實并非如此。

Cats have a reputation as a cold and distant domesticated animal—at least compared to their main competitor,known as“man's best friend(dogs)”.

But felines do feel affection for their humans;they simply express it differently—and it's not just people saying it!Now there's science to prove it,too.

Oregon State University(OSU)researchers concluded that cats really do actually love their humans—or at the very least,see them as parents or caregivers—after conducting a study on kittens,modeled after previous research on dogs and babies.

The study,published in Current Biology,examined how kitten subjects reacted after spending two minutes with their caretakers,being left alone,thenreunitingforanothertwominutes.After the experiment,they categorized each kitten by the attachment styles assigned to human babies and dogs in previous studies—secure,ambivalent(矛盾的),avoidant(回避的),and disorganized.

64 percent of the kittens demonstrated a“secure attachment style” to their caregivers,meaning the cat seemed disturbed when they left the room but“displayed a reduced stress response”upon their return.

On the other hand,about 30 percent of the kittens were found to have an“insecure attachment style”,which means their stress levels did not decrease upon their caregivers'return to the room.That said,this split is consistent with the literature on human children—so the smaller percentage with “insecure attachment styles” is not specific to cats,contrary to popular belief.Also,the percentage of cats with “secure attachment styles” is actually higher than dogs'—only 58 percent of dogs demonstrated the“secure”attachment,while 42 percent were categorized as “insecure”.

What's more,cats'behavioural patterns remained consistent when the OSU team recreated the experiment with a group of fully grown cats.Therefore,kittens and grown cats show the same level of affection for their caregivers as human babies,and maybe even slightly more than dogs.

Reading Check

Have you ever raised a cat?What do you think of the above study?

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