“Do you know what happened at work today?” someone asks their dog while putting away groceries. Ten minutes later, the dog has heard about an annoying colleague, tomorrow's plans and why dinner is running late. Another person tells their cat, “We've already discussed this. You can't sit there,” as though continuing an argument from yesterday. To an outsider, these one-sided conversations can look amusing. Psychology, however, offers a more interesting explanation. Research on anthropomorphism, attachment, social cognition and pet-directed speech suggests that talking to pets like adults can emerge naturally when an animal becomes a psychologically meaningful social partner.
The person doesn't necessarily believe their pet understands every word. Instead, the human brain may begin communicating with an animal using some of the same social machinery it uses in relationships with other people.
