Cats have a rudimentary understanding of the principle of cause and effect

[Independent voter]

Cat science. If you throw a baseball at a window you can guess the outcome, same if you throw a ping pong ball at the same window. A scientific study says cats share this ability.




http://www.techtimes.com/articles/16...ience-cats-use




Cats have a rudimentary understanding of the principle of cause and effect as
well as the elements of physics. How does this help them when hunting for prey
at night? ( Christopher Furlong | Getty Images )
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Humans are not the only creature capable of using science for real-life
applications. Felines also have basic understanding of some elements of
physics.

A new study provides evidence that cats also have rudimentary concept of the
laws of physics and the principle of cause and effect. The animal's keen sense
of hearing along with application of these concepts allows them to more easily
hunt for prey.

Researchers in Japan wanted to know if cats can anticipate the presence of an
invisible object in a box based on the sound produced by the container when it
is shaken.

They also wanted to know if cats expect an object to fall from the box when
the container is turned over so they conducted experiments involving 30
domestic cats.

Saho Takagi, from Kyoto University in Japan, and colleagues shook boxes in
front of the cats with and without a rattling sound. They also flipped over
the boxes, only some of which yielded a dropped object.

Of the scenarios the researchers employed in the experiment, the rattling
boxes that yielded an object and the silent boxes that did not yield anything
complied with physics. The rattling boxes that did not yield a falling object
and silent boxes that yielded an object defied the laws of physics.

Takagi and colleagues observed that cats tend to stare longer at rattling
boxes during the experiment, which suggest that they correctly anticipated the
presence of an object based on the container's rattling sound.

The felines also stared longer when a turned over box yielded unexpected
results that defy the laws of physics.

Takagi explained that these animals use a causal-logical understanding of
noise or sounds when predicting the presence of invisible objects.

"The results suggest that cats used a causal-logical understanding of auditory
stimuli to predict the appearance of invisible objects," the researchers wrote
in their study, which was published in the journal Animal Cognition on June
14.

The researchers said that the species' environment likely affect their ability
to find out information based on the sound that they hear, which means that
the animal's natural hunting style may favor an ability to infere based on
sounds.

Cats often hunt at night, which makes their vision limited, so they often need
to infer the location of their prey based on sounds alone.

"The ecology of cats' natural hunting style may favor the ability for
inference on the basis of sounds," Takagi and colleagues added.

[Justpassing]

So they are just assholes?

[BuckSparkles]

So they are just assholes?

My roomates cat is. He will jump up on his desk, stare me in the eye, and knock shit on the ground with his paw.

[shadowmouse]

Cats are actually Keepers of Gravity. Although this sometimes allows them to leap in seeming defiance of gravity, their powers come at a price. At unexpected times, gravity waves will cause cats to fall -- usually in a manner that would be embarrassing to other creatures, but cats understand and dare you to notice. Their most important role is to constantly check to see if gravity is still working. They do this by taking ordinary objects and pushing them to see if they will, indeed, fall. Thus, cats not only understand cause and effect, they maintain continuity.

This message brought to you by Hotdog, the Kitten, Slayer of Toilet Paper

[Queen of Hamsters]

Willing to bet many predatory animals do. For instance, those that hunt in groups (felines and canines). Heck, even jumping spiders are supposed to be pretty damned intelligent as far as spiders go, making up battle plans and predicting outcomes of positioning and shit.

Nice that we live in an era where humans are no longer threatened (at least not scientists) by the prospect of animals being more complex than humans initially wanted to believe.

[Kujako]

Well yea... but they don't care.

[Fullmetal89]

Well yea... but they don't care.

Haha, they are scumbags.

[Trassk]

So they are just assholes?

This cat has an apple.



(Someone should get the reference)

[Justpassing]

Well yea... but they don't care.

What an asshole.

[Rezhial]

Well yea... but they don't care.

This video will never get old.

[Dezerte]

I believe it. One of my cats is so manipulative, he knows exactly how to get on my nerves to get the thing he wants.

[Nanaboostme]

This cat has an apple.



(Someone should get the reference)

Either a biblical reference or it's about to go smoke an apple pipe

[Ripster42]

Either a biblical reference or it's about to go smoke an apple pipe

I'm guessing it's because apple sounds like asshole.

[derpkitteh]

i'm pretty sure some cats have a sense of self as well, because i've seen an imgur post showing it happening and nobody in the picture or in the comments mentioned it.

the picture was of a guy facetiming with his gf, and the cat with him watching her, and when she'd talk, he'd see himself on the phone and the picture of the gf was above him on screen, and he'd look up to see if she was above him.

[Deleted]

Well yea... but they don't care.

The next step should have been the cat following the cup.

[Trassk]

I'm guessing it's because apple sounds like asshole.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...oreInteresting

[Damajin]

“Throw a stick, and the servile dog wheezes and pants and stumbles to bring it to you. Do the same before a cat, and he will eye you with coolly polite and somewhat bored amusement. And just as inferior people prefer the inferior animal which scampers excitedly because someone else wants something, so do superior people respect the superior animal which lives its own life and knows that the puerile stick-throwings of alien bipeds are none of its business and beneath its notice. The dog barks and begs and tumbles to amuse you when you crack the whip. That pleases a meekness-loving peasant who relishes a stimulus to his self importance. The cat, on the other hand, charms you into playing for its benefit when it wishes to be amused; making you rush about the room with a paper on a string when it feels like exercise, but refusing all your attempts to make it play when it is not in the humour. That is personality and individuality and self-respect -- the calm mastery of a being whose life is its own and not yours -- and the superior person recognises and appreciates this because he too is a free soul whose position is assured, and whose only law is his own heritage and aesthetic sense.”
― H.P. Lovecraft

Here's the man, telling it like it is.

[Ripster42]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...oreInteresting

I feel old now.