Kittens meow (and loudly) to their mothers if left alone for too long. So it's not a behaviour unique to human cat interactions.
As is typical, it is a innate behaviour that seems to be repurposed when interacting with humans.
Humans are very auditory, and cats faces are not as expressive as dogs are. So cats seems to [1] discover that meowing is a good way to get a human's attention.
Behaviourism predicts that when an organism is faced with a 'problem' to solve it will often run through it's behavioural repertoire, trying each behaviour until one seems to trigger the desired outcome.
As is typical, it is a innate behaviour that seems to be repurposed when interacting with humans.
Humans are very auditory, and cats faces are not as expressive as dogs are. So cats seems to [1] discover that meowing is a good way to get a human's attention.
Behaviourism predicts that when an organism is faced with a 'problem' to solve it will often run through it's behavioural repertoire, trying each behaviour until one seems to trigger the desired outcome.
[1] each cat on his own!