# Can Cats Imitate People? Results from the 'Do as I Do' Study Source: https://iqcat.vercel.app/en/blog/cat-imitation Published: 2026-08-25 Publisher: NekoIQ (https://iqcat.vercel.app) Tags: 猫, 学習, 認知科学, 研究 > Can a cat reproduce an action it watched a person perform? We introduce the study applying the Do as I Do paradigm to a cat and explain what the result does and does not establish. ## Key takeaways - A well-socialized cat was reported to reproduce two different human-demonstrated actions on the same object. - The study is a single-subject case report, so concluding that cats in general imitate would require replication. - Imitation requires translating another body's movement onto one's own body. - When a household cat appears to copy its owner, trial-and-error learning usually explains it better. A kitten that learned the litter box by following the resident cat; a cat that started sliding a door after watching its owner. Stories of cats copying are common. Demonstrating imitation scientifically, though, is much harder than it sounds. ## Why imitation is hard to prove Matching behavior between individuals is not necessarily imitation. Attention may simply have been drawn to the same place (local enhancement), or the same use of an object may have been discovered independently (stimulus enhancement). True imitation requires showing that another body's movement was mapped onto one's own. To address this, dog research developed the 'Do as I Do' method: first train a cue meaning 'copy that,' then show a new action and see whether a matching action follows. ## What was reported in a cat [Fugazza and colleagues (2020)](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-020-01428-6) applied the method to a pet cat—a single, well-socialized individual whose owner trained her routinely. The cat had been trained to reproduce a small set of familiar actions on the command 'Do it!' before the study began. The test used a two-action procedure in which two different actions were demonstrated on the same object: touching a box with a hand in one set of trials, and bringing the face to the box in another. The question was whether the cat produced the corresponding action—paw touch versus face contact. Because both actions target the same object, stimulus enhancement alone cannot explain a difference. The cat reproduced the two demonstrated actions differentially. The authors describe this as the first evidence that the Do as I Do paradigm can be applied to cats, suggesting that recognizing behavioral similarity may fall within the range of feline socio-cognitive skills. ## How to read the result The report is an important first step, but its limits are explicit. The subject was a single, unusually well-trained individual. Whether an ordinary household cat would do the same is unknown. The authors themselves call for replication. In animal cognition, single-subject findings often fail to reproduce in later, larger studies. Read it carefully. ## What everyday 'copying' usually is Most household copying has a simpler explanation. A door the owner keeps opening attracts the cat's attention (local enhancement). Repeated pawing at it eventually opens it, and because something good follows, the action sticks. That is the law of effect ([how good are cats at problem solving?](https://iqcat.vercel.app/en/blog/cat-problem-solving)). A kitten adopting the resident cat's litter box is likewise largely explained by being drawn to the same location. These mechanisms are still perfectly effective forms of learning. ## Using this in training To teach a cat something new, reinforcement is more reliable than imitation. Clicker training has shown effects in shelter cats ([can cats be trained?](https://iqcat.vercel.app/en/blog/cat-training-learning)). The broader picture of feline learning is collected in [can a cat's IQ be measured?](https://iqcat.vercel.app/en/cat-iq). ## Human learning and imitation Humans are extreme imitators, which is what makes cumulative culture possible. IQ tests, by contrast, measure finding rules in unfamiliar problems rather than copying ([fluid and crystallized intelligence](https://iqcat.vercel.app/en/blog/fluid-crystallized-intelligence)). The [free NekoIQ IQ test](https://iqcat.vercel.app/en/start) targets that fluid side in 20 questions and about 10 minutes. Results are estimates for self-understanding and are not a substitute for an official intelligence test. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do cats imitate people? One cat trained under the Do as I Do paradigm reproduced actions matching those a person demonstrated. As a single-subject report, it does not establish imitation as a general feline ability. ### Is a cat opening a door imitation? Usually not. An action that happened to succeed is reinforced by its outcome and becomes refined through repetition. ### Do kittens copy a resident cat? A resident cat's behavior can serve as a learning cue, for example with litter boxes. Whether this is true imitation or simply attention drawn to the same location needs to be distinguished. ## Disclaimer NekoIQ provides estimates for entertainment and self-understanding. It is not a medical, clinical, or official psychological assessment. Percentages are derived from a normal distribution with mean 100 and SD 15.