A true dream job for all cat lovers: researching how cats communicate with us. After the Meertens Institute posted the vacancy for this position online, the first enthusiastic reactions quickly poured in. But what exactly are you going to do? Project leader Marjo van Koppen explains.
Linguist and researcher Marjo van Koppen is not surprised by the enthusiastic response to the vacancy for ‘junior researcher cat-human interaction’ at the Meertens Institute, which is concerned with research and documentation of language and culture in the Netherlands. “Many people in the Netherlands have a cat. It will sound like a dream job to many of these cat lovers. But of course we are looking for someone with the right linguistic knowledge and experience.”
There will also be little cuddling with cats at work, warns Van Koppen. But getting paid to watch cat videos won’t be a punishment for many.
Interaction in steps
What exactly is the purpose of watching cats on video? The vacancy text states that you will conduct research into communication between cats and humans from a linguistic perspective. Van Koppen has already conducted similar research into cows together with colleague Leonie Cornips. “We looked at how the cow communicates with humans. Now we are expanding the research to pets and starting with the cat. A logical choice for our team, because most of us live with cats ourselves.”
Van Koppen and Cornips collected their own films and also asked students and trainees to record the interaction with their cat. “We have carefully watched and analyzed all those videos. We looked at how the interactions were structured. How does a cat ask for something, for example for food or if the door can be opened? What steps does a cat go through to get a message across and get what it wants? But also: what happens if it is not possible to get a person to open the door or give food?”
Pointing with ears
Ultimately, the researchers want to find out exactly how cat-human interaction works and what the differences and similarities are with how people communicate with each other. Van Koppen: ,,If I want to show or point out something, I can say: ‘Come and have a look’. Cats can’t do that the same way. They do go through the same steps in such an interaction, but use different ways and different parts of their bodies than we do. If you want to point out something, you – whether you are a human or a cat – must first get attention. Cats are masters at that, by the way. Then they have to get you to, for example, the kitchen. They do that very conveniently, they walk in front of you and look behind you to see if you are still following.”
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They do go through the same steps in such an interaction, but use different ways and different parts of their bodies than we do
There is already something special that Van Koppen’s team noticed: cats can point at something with their ears. “They turn one of their ears to what they want to point to. We didn’t know this yet.”
To find out all the ways cats communicate to make something clear, more footage needs to be studied. So the Meertens Institute needs someone for that. Van Koppen: ,,We will ask the new researcher to collect, study and systematize even more films. The person has to look very closely at the film material and based on that, think about the follow-up research: what stands out and what else do we want to know?”
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real cats
But research into cats, does it really make the world a better place? Van Koppen knows that there are people who think that way. “The response to our research into interaction with animals has been mixed. Some are very enthusiastic, others laugh about it or think we are not in our right mind.”
In any case, Van Koppen knows that this research will help with an even better understanding of language. ,,It is of course nice for the cat if we get to understand her better. But we also hope to find out whether the language we use as humans is really so unique. Linguists often limit themselves to human language, because it is said that language is only for humans. But is that really so? Is the boundary between humans and animals really that black and white?”
As a new researcher, you therefore contribute to finding answers to these questions and possible follow-up questions, simply by analyzing videos very precisely. Real cats are therefore not involved. Although…Van Koppen: ,,Films that people make themselves are not always of good quality. So there’s a good chance we’ll want better shots and then shoot them ourselves, with cats in their own habitat. Then of course it helps if you are not allergic to cats.”
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