[DigitallyFidget]

Most pet owners are well aware of the info in these articles. It's obvious my cat can think, learn, remember, and recall. When she wants attention, she comes to me, pats her paw against me for my attention, and then hops into my lap or awaits me to pick her up. She doesn't go to the couch and expect attention. It's easy to see that she wanted attention, and consciously sought me out, and socially interacted with me to get my attention. No cat owner would think that to be an autonomous or subconscious/thoughtless behaviour.

However, as an owner, none of my interactions with my cat are scientific, recorded research, or anything that helps to prove things. Again, anyone who has taken care of animals knows they make friends, enemies, socialize, think, and even love. But research in the field is still relatively new, these articles are relatively "no shit" to pet owners, but they're saying that there's now scientific research about these behaviours.