Are cats or dogs smarter?

Most of us have ever lived with a pet, whether it was a dog, cat or another type, and on many occasions its behavior has surprised us.

But, which are the smartest? We are going to discover if cats or dogs are smarter, and its biological explanation.

• Related article: "Theories of Human Intelligence"

Which are smarter, cats or dogs?

Society is divided between cat lovers and dog lovers, excluding one small part of the population that either adore these animals equally or dislikes any of them both. Frequently, among one another, discussions arise about whether cats or dogs are smarter. But what is the truth about this question?

The truth is, anticipating the conclusion of the explanations that we are going to see below, dogs are more intelligent than cats, in general terms. Surely many people (cat lovers) will disagree with this statement, but we are going to carefully explore the fundamentals that support it.

In the following points we will delve into the brain structures of these two species, the different types of intelligence that have been evaluated and the curious experiments that have been carried out to be able to measure them in an appropriate way, adapting to the characteristics of these peculiar subjects of study.

cat and dog brain

Ignoring the obvious differences between breeds and taking the mean sizes as a reference, The dog's brain is much bigger than the cat's brain.. In fact, we would be talking about a difference of more than double, since the dog's cerebral cortex is made up of about 530 million neurons, compared to the 250 that would make up that of cats.

Why this huge difference? Some studies associate it with a characteristic of dogs that is not present in cats: sociability. While cats prefer a solitary life, with occasional interactions with their peers and with humans, dogs need continuous contact, like gregarious animals.

In fact, a dog that does not have the proper social stimulation can develop pathologies and behavioral disorders, since they are being deprived of an element that is necessary for their development and their day to day.

This socialization requires more developed brain structures, and is observed not only in dogs, but in other species such as dolphins, elephants, horses, or monkeys. On the other hand, animals that do not live in a community, such as rhinos or deer, like cats, have not experienced this brain growth in the evolutionary history of the species.

• You may be interested in: "Animal Intelligence: Thorndike and Köhler's Theories"

dog experiments

There are countless studies carried out to somehow measure the intelligence of dogs. Let's see some of the most interesting.

1. Stimulus distinction

In an experiment, the dog was placed in a room where there were toys (which he did not know previously) and other everyday objects that can be found in a house, such as books. Then the order to bring the toy or bring the non-toy was given, and the success rate was extraordinary.

This test worked even without the words and simply showing the animal a copy of the item we wanted it to give us.

2. vicarious learning

Another study showed that dogs are capable of learning by imitation, a relatively complex method which requires brain structures (mirror neurons) that not all animals have.

In this case, some dogs were taught to open a door, showing them how to do it and reinforcing them when they succeeded. A control group was established that was not previously shown the procedure to open the door. The result was clear: those who had seen the human open it learned much faster.

3. discern mental states

A very peculiar test consisted of putting the dog in the position of having to request food from one of the two researchers in the room, one of whom was blindfolded. In all cases they preferred to address those with whom they could establish eye contact as a form of communication.

Going a step further, another experiment was carried out in which a man kept a series of objects in some boxes, locked them and then hid the keys. Then he would leave and another person would enter, who would try to open the boxes, and it was the dog that brought him the hidden keys to be able to do it.

But the best thing happened when the dynamics of the experiment was changed and this second researcher was present when the first one put away the objects. In this case, the dog did not try to lead him to where the keys were, because he knew that he had seen how they were hiding them. In other words: they knew that the human knew, which is a mental process that shows great intelligence.

4. Empathy

Another of the situations that have been observed in the laboratory consisted of exposing the dog to two situations, one in the one in which a person is singing or simply speaking in a neutral way, and another in which he pretends to be crying. The animals always decided to approach the person who was crying before the other. They knew how to interpret that person needed help.

experiments with cats

It is true that historically cats have not aroused the same interest as dogs when it comes to conducting experiments that measure their abilities, perhaps because of the ease and docility of the former when it comes to exposing them to very varied and the difficulty presented by the latter to participate in strange processes, far from the place of reference that is their home.

However, in recent years some researchers are trying to explore this field, so that we do have some example that allows us to compare whether cats or dogs.

1. Point

One of the tests that has been carried out in a controlled way is to check if a cat is capable of interpreting the human gesture of pointing. And if, these domestic cats are capable of interpreting what object or place we are referring to when we point our finger to him.

Although it seems like a very elementary behavior, it is not so much. It is a good indicator of social intelligence and interpretation of intentionality, and not all species are capable of carrying it out, not even some so extremely close to us as the chimpanzees.

2. Social interaction

Another experiment consisted of placing the cats in a room with toys and food available on one side, and people on the other. In a higher percentage, the cats preferred social interaction with them before heading towards food or playful elements.

3. Owner's state of mind

In another curious test, the cat and its owner were in a room, and the researchers connected a fan that made a powerful noise. The cat's reaction, logically, was to take refuge with his reference person. The key to the experiment was that the person had to speak to the cat in a positive tone., so that he interpreted that the situation was not dangerous and that the fan was not a harmful element.

By doing so, the cats ended up approaching and lying down without problem. It follows that the cats had interpreted the mental state of the owner, attributing that if he was calm it is because there was no harmful element in the environment to be on guard.

4. recognize your name

A recurring question is whether your cats really recognize their name, since on many occasions they do not react to it when called.

This test has been carried out under laboratory conditions to clear up doubts once and for all and it has been shown that yes, they do recognize their name, so that if on some occasion you call your cat and it does not react, it does not mean that it does not know that you are calling it, it is simply that it does not feel like going where you are you.

Conclusion

After knowing a small sample of all the tests in which these two animal species have participated, we are in a position to return to the answer to the question of whether cats or dogs.

Dogs have been shown to be capable of more complex abilities, which require greater neural plasticity. and more evolved brain structures, and we have seen that this is linked to greater socialization.

Be careful, this does not mean that cats are not intelligent, since they are, and a lot. And they are also extremely skilled in very complex physical behaviors. But when we talk about situations that require greater mental complexity, dogs come out winners.

Bibliographic references:

• Jardim-Messeder, D., Lambert, K., Noctor, S., Pestana, M., de Castro, M.E., Bertelsen, M.F., Alagaili, A.N., Mohammad, O.B., Manger, P.R., Herculano-Houzel, S. (2017). Dogs Have the Most Neurons, Though Not the Largest Brain: Trade-Off between Body Mass and Number of Neurons in the Cerebral Cortex of Large Carnivoran Species. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.
• Shultz, S., Dunbar, R. (2010). Encephalization is not a universal macroevolutionary phenomenon in mammals but is associated with sociality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Vitale, K.R., Udell, M.A.R. (2015). What's inside your cat's head? A review of cat (Felis silvestris catus) cognition research past, present and future. Animal cognition. Springer.
• Vitale, K.R., Udell, M.A.R. (2019). The quality of being sociable: The influence of human attentional state, population, and human familiarity on domestic cat sociability. Behavioral processes. Elsevier.