著者
高木 佐保
出版者
THE JAPANESE SOCIETY FOR ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY
雑誌
動物心理学研究 (ISSN:09168419)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.73, no.2, pp.123-137, 2023 (Released:2023-12-25)
参考文献数
77

Cats are now the most common companion animal in Japan. Cats have had a close relationship with humans for a long time, and sometimes there is human intervention from the earliest stages of development. In other words, they are often raised by humans rather than by their biological mother. Cats raised by humans may perform the same behaviors in humans that they do in their mother cats. This paper outlines cat parenting by biological parents and its mother-infant communication and human-cat "mother-infant" communication, followed by a summary of maternal-like behaviors exhibited by cats toward humans. The process of parenting by cats and the developmental stages of their offspring are outlined, followed by an explanation of the recently revealed role of the father and communication between mother and offspring. Regarding cat parenting by humans, the importance of the socialization period will be discussed, followed by an explanation of various forms of "motherinfant" communication. Then, after summarizing the mother-like behavior of cats toward humans, I will discuss whether cats show tolerance toward human children based on preliminary studies and my own experience. Finally, I summarized the differences between conspecific and inter-species communication and discuss future prospects.
著者
高木 佐保
出版者
麻布大学
雑誌
特別研究員奨励費
巻号頁・発行日
2022-07-01

内分泌機能と言語能力の関連を明らかにするために、半家畜動物であるネコを対象に、家畜化の過程で変化したホルモン(オキシトシン/コルチゾール)分泌量測定し、言語能力との関連をみる。研究1では実験の結果から言語能力を同定し、内分泌機能との関連を調べる。研究2では、言語能力と内分泌機能の因果関係を明らかにするため、ホルモンレベルの操作を行ったうえで、研究1と同様の実験を行い、「コトバの理解」の向上や、「発声の複雑化」がみられるか調べる。研究3では、研究1で得られた結果から、言語能力が高い/低い個体を分類する。それらの群の遺伝子を解析し、家畜化の過程で獲得したと考えられる「言語遺伝子」を同定する。