Learning Behavior: who’s imitating who?

4# Have You Ever Wonder?

More than 15 years ago, I participated in a personal development course by a well-known Indonesian writer and motivator, La Rose. There was an interesting explanation from her presentation at that time about learning behavior. She explained that from our childhood, we learn how to behave, response, gesture, and body language from our surroundings. In most cases, from our parents and family. All the characters we have as a grown up person or adult are derived from many years where we adopt most habitual from our family. She called this process as learning behavior. Do you ever notice how members in one family have the same typical gestures when smiling or being grumpy? Or, even in responding to horrible news.

Needless to say when we are having animals as our companions at home. Based on my observation, cats are the perfect creature in learning other cat and our behavior and responses. If it’s not, then why the terminology of copycat is ever exist? Feline are excellent impersonator because they are keen observer. They always notice and study how their beloved humans behave and react. My own experience has shown these hypotheses are for real. For instance, when one of my cat eagerly want to get out from a closed room, he knows how to open the door by jumping off many times towards the doorknob and manage to push down it by his paws, boom alakazam… and the door is open. I was so amazed because I never taught him how to open the door. Or, in another occasion, my other cat open the window by pushing all her body against it and place her paws on the window knob….after putting hard work and extra efforts, she finally succeeded unlock the window. Once again, I never coach her how to do it. So, if no one in my home ever trains my cats how to do those things, where they get the idea? Believe it or not! For another prove, see below how a marvelous feline plays piano.





One other thing that makes me stun is the resemblance of our cat temperament or personality with their owner. Thus, are my close watching over catlovers, and of course including my own. My long time colleague has a cat, which its body is robust and describes my friend’s body type. They have similarities in personality, being rather snob, nasty and put privacy matter as priority. For other facts as examples, the list could be way too long if I put them all together here. As catlover, how about yours? And, for non catlover, have you ever notice this one?

On the other paws, ooopss… I mean on the other hand, in humans world, we found the term with “cat” word as a phrase to indicate we do adopt and behave like cats. I have mentioned in my earlier posting about catfight and catwalk. The term of copycat is the most captivating phrase. Even among cats, I often see cats do imitating each other and not just copy our characters. Based on those “cat” terms we used, we are being impersonator to cats’ behavior. Hence, I often wonder to myself, actually who’s imitating who?

Little felines impersonating in humans world