© Sean CarrollLike most cats, nothing delights Ariel more than an empty box in which to lounge. This might tell us something about feline visual perception of shapes and contours, per a study in Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
What cats' love of boxes and squares can tell us about their visual perceptionIt is a truth universally acknowledged — at least by those of the feline persuasion — that an empty box on the floor must be in want of a cat. Ditto for laundry baskets, suitcases, sinks, and even cat carriers (when not used as transport to the vet). This behavior is
generally attributed to the fact that cats feel safer when squeezed into small spaces, but it might also be able to tell us something about feline visual perception. That's the rationale behind
a new study in the journal
Applied Animal Behaviour Science with a colorful title: "If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats (
Felis silvers catus)."
The paper was inspired in part by a 2017 viral Twitter hashtag, #CatSquares, in which users posted pictures of their cats sitting inside squares marked out on the floor with tape — kind of a virtual box. The following year, lead author Gabriella Smith, a graduate student at Hunter College (CUNY) in New York City, attended a lecture by co-author Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, who heads the
Thinking Dog Center at Hunter. Byosiere studies canine behavior and cognition, and she spoke about dogs' susceptibility to visual illusions. While playing with her roommate's cat later that evening, Smith recalled the Twitter hashtag and wondered if she could find a visual illusion that looked like a square to test on cats.
Smith found it in the work of the late Italian psychologist and artist
Gaetano Kanizsa, who was interested in
illusory (subjective) contours that visually evoke the sense of an edge in the brain even if there isn't really a line or edge there. The Kanizsa square consists of four objects shaped like Pac-Man, oriented with the "mouth" facing inward to form the four corners of a square. Even better, there was
a 1988 study that used the Kanizsa square to investigate the susceptibility of two young female cats to illusory contours. The study concluded that, yes, cats are susceptible to the Kanizsa square illusion, suggesting that they perceive subjective contours much like humans.
But the 1988 study was conducted in the laboratory and "primed" the two feline subjects via standard operant conditioning methods. Smith wanted to design a similar study that increased the sample size and observed the cats' behavior in their natural environment — which is less stressful for cats than a lab environment — with no advance priming. A "citizen science" project involving cat owners recruited on Twitter seemed like just the ticket, especially given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. People were spending a lot more time at home with their pets, and they were likely to have more time to conduct the trials.
© Sean CarrollCaliban strikes a pose in the Box of Dignity.
The only supplies participating owners needed were a printer with black ink, printer paper, scissors, tape, and a ruler, plus sunglasses and a digital camera or smartphone to record their cats' behavior. Smith serially sent participants six randomized daily stimuli to print out and set up on the floor, per instructions, while the cat was not in the room. The stimuli included a simple square, the Kanizsa square illusion, and a Kanizsa control in which the Pac-Man mouths faced outward instead of inward. All dimensions were such that a cat could comfortably sit or stand inside with all its limbs without being able to sprawl.
© Gabriella E. Smith et al., 2021On the top, we see an example of the placement of stimuli pairs—Kanizsa control (left) and Kanizsa illusion (right). On the bottom, there's a square on the left and a Kanizsa illusion on the right.
The cats would be permitted into the room, and the owners would don the sunglasses and avoid interacting with their pets so as not to give the beasts any cues. The humans would videotape the cats' behavior with the pairs of stimuli and upload the videos to a shared Dropbox for the project. If the cat sat or stood with all its legs inside the contours of a stimulus within the first five minutes, the owners would stop recording and make note of the chosen shape. If the cat didn't select one of the stimuli in the first five minutes, the trial would end.
Although some 500 pet cats and their owners expressed interest, only 30 completed all six of the study's trials over the course of the two-month study last summer. Of those, nine of the cats selected at least one of the stimuli by sitting within its contours (illusory or otherwise) for at least three seconds — a pretty good duration given the notorious fickleness of cats. As for preferences, cats selected the Kanizsa illusion just as often as the square; they selected both of those more often than the control stimulus. In other words, the cats treated the illusory square the same way they treated the real square.
© Gabriella E. Smith et al., 2021Video screenshots of participating cats' selections of stimuli.
"It's the presence of the contours, either in the Kanizsa square or in the real square, that causes cats to sit inside, rather than the presence of shapes on the floor," Smith told Ars. "Brains are very sensitive to contours that differ in luminance. Vision has evolved to answer questions having to do with boundaries and contours."The study comes with the usual caveats, notably the final small sample size (the result of participant attrition, a common challenge with citizen science projects). Smith and her co-authors also suggest replicating the study in a more controlled setting, despite the advantages gained from conducting the trials in the comfort of the cats' own homes. "For the sake of cats, the home was really ideal, but otherwise, for the sake of science, it is best to do things in controlled settings [like a lab]," said Smith.
Smith and Byosiere are also keen to adapt some of the latter's work with dogs and visual illusions to the study of cat behavior and cognition. "Cat cognition research is certainly lacking in comparison to domestic dogs," the authors concluded. "Although the reason for this is unclear, the use of citizen science as a precursor to in-lab investigations of cat cognition could greatly help bridge this divide."
Reference:Gabriella E. Smith, Philippe A. Chouinard, Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, "If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats (
Felis silvestris catus)",
Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 240, 2021, 105338, ISSN 0168-1591,
doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105338.
Reader Comments
Power Animals, Totem Animala
Watch Brother Bear 1+2
Did you know that the crop circles were Egyptian hieroglyphs?
You informed me of the animal/comet connection too although I have known of the constellations being referenced by animals. Prosperity in our UniVerse makes TOTAL CENTS
I know the Above pulls the strings of the BeLow to rise IT up in UNION (Yoga). We are gettttting there
Humans are a party of Animals, here to learn to get along, and not self-sabotage. Those with much inner predation are younger souls, which reflects in their life story. Very few just choose a challenging experience to assist close-ones to evolve.
You mentioned in our other thread, consiousness/ unconsiousness. To be experienced in Higher WORLD; the Inka named it HanacPacha.
We are all God's son
As above So below. 🙇♀️
Love it😻
What comes next?
But the Romans, lead by Constantine saw a chance to change what happened and use it for their advantage for power and money. The Romans used a war tactic called Iconoclasm.And it worked. Everything that happened before that could then be rewritten. Completely changed. No one asks why or how the Holy City is now in Rome when it used to be in Jerusalem. Because the Roman's destroyed Jerusalem so they could make the new holy capital Rome and under their complete control. The Book of Revelations isn't a telling of the future, it's the telling of what happened when the comet and its tail hit the planet.
Religion is the writing of our bond in Spirit. Dogma is machoistic patriarchy, the old structure tumbling since 2008 (terminated by October 2024).
Data vs knowledge
Learning aka theory vs experience
Awareness is consciousness made live, or consciousness come on-line, which has its time and its place, something humans are very late to 'press enter' with.
Karma is the fruit of our activity, we's been rotting since the 80s.
(You know that).
The bible is symbolic as is rome n jerusalem. They live in us. We all are them. We are the world, is more than a smart pop song, here in beats the Uni-Verse. Matriarchy is the honour in balance majorly inexistant since A.D. (yes symbolique, After Death of the expression of unity, yoga, balance.)
The Bhagavad Gita speaks of 2000 year IN-Breath, gap, 200O year OUT-Breath, gap, REPEAT. WE are almost HOME, ....Our masculine energies will be up-shifted from cowardness, willing or not, TO HONOUR, Home. (As Above So below -- As withIN so withOUT)
Back to Square 1
Puma peeps are the kingly leaders (and have much experiential training under the belt -- past lives et al) in case you haven't taken a Ms Google lol
Leaders must learn by themselves because they don't do the 'following' and lead right. We know which parents (n soul clans) will honour these basic 'need' not 'wants' of purs. Profound trauma it is for a child, however in the meantime we've become adults and have overcome many hurdles. Not easy, but can be simple.
Your leadership McS exudes in all you write that is clearly obvious and a tip of my hat to you, I comprehend.
More nuggets are to be uncovered, and Nature is not 'mind' she is Mother she is balance, beauty, power, prosperity. She is always benevolent and cannot NOT hold n nuture all her children. The Matriarch is the one which knows who is MATER.i.al expressing heavenly inSPIRITation. Both sides make a coin aka integration in each of 10000 expressions.
The human, the privileged child of the universe, has freewill and out of pain builds walls n defenses which are needed for a time. Time is up. IT really just is a flowing trip between mind n heart aka Vegus Nerve.
Everything is symbolic (in all your data sharing above which is filled with intelligence truth n love that one open, can readily feel. Gorgeous!) It is symbolic to show us the way up, rising from our stories aka transENDing them, for the love of our forefathers and our offspringing. Living transPARENTed is becoming self-actualized as a sovereign BEing, not do-er or have-er.
(Above below, In out, Yin/Yang... you know yours ) The INNER FLAME is the heater, and can only be stoked by energy in motion... e.motion thru the intimatelove of me and I. None-dual beingness, relaxing from either or both extremes and witness is called UNITY consciousness. We are not alone but allone and all day long we express our faith in that or fear of that illusion or lack/scarcity consciousness).
Btw the inner flame is our inner child, just mentioning cause this is where it fits in nicely although I am certain you know. Our Yin n Yang are the parents to our inner child (which also has an animalistic instinct).
Oh I hope I've got flow going on, won't reread lolll I rarely write much 🙈
Also to add that light stops the creation of melatonin keeping us then awake in 'the darkness' cycle. Nature knows 👌 bestest. Love that!!
Racsism Tower of Babel... all in the 2000 year cycle, it is a work-in-progress. Witnessing is not DEtriMENTAL (yin/yang/kiddo) 3'6'9 Tesla TRIangle 3 worlds, below middle, above -- ALL SIGNPOSTS
Light
Night
Watch Brother Bear 1+2, I know you will enjoy. 12s love those films. The 12's only predator is the Puma/Cougar (in self) as we have 9 power animals in our personal Totem. The 12 is the most precious, therefore the most graced n protected and Mountain Lion's reason for BE-ING. Gorgeous😻
(Our self-sabotage, self-destruct mechanisms are written between our personal prey/predator exchanges of the 'out' Wild but withIN.) All must be fed to remain powerfilled n not in shadow 'hunting-down' mode.
Lollll I've never said that before and haven't thought of R.A. + Andy in many decades love that
Btw God is a She and we vibrate at the frequency of experience in space.
I don't have the techie data lolll, my brain is wired differently but I feel -- We've had many fascinating exchanges on here with VooDoo6 if you come across him, a tad silent at the moment, and Baybars et al. A grand bunch here Chez Sott with sovereign brains like nowhere else. Now here, only
Brother Bear is different.
*****
Let me re-post this here in case it interests you.
Here we are. This data-thread needs abit of life. Allow me
1977 is Yin Crow (has Raven 'Hawk' Owl Eagle n 🐍🐰🐿 links)
25 is Yang Fox (has 'Wolf', Coyote 'Mouse' link)
12 is Porcupine (has a 'Puma' link)
🐐
45 is Heron, 46 Racoon
Wildcards 2023 Red Spider
Awareness is worthless if not applied. Integration means unification manifested aka expressed.
Jesus Santa n You have generosity of expenditure in common yes. The trick is to receive what one expends, to self.
You are winning magician of the most beautiful kind.
******
Lolll so you attract spears! I know the experience real well -- but it does nothing to deter my focus. Never has.
Thanks for introducing me to Cyprus, my 1st study of it. Remarkable!! I must have been eine alte Oma crocheting those lace doilies. Oh Myyy! ... and my love of copper too.
I am immensely enjoying digging into Persia thanks to your Singing Rocks. Other-worldly and so what I needed.
I love that part of the world --fascinating to me that just before you shared that link I recalled a gorgeous video that I have watched over n over again n wanted to link it to you, just haven't gotten around to finding it yet.
In the meantime, I just stumbled onto this news for me too. I think it could be news for you too. (700 km in a straight horizontal line from me) and anarea that has always spiked my interest. Funny, just recalling a pilot customer from up-there that I worked for in the early 80s (and my greatest boss Georges Papazian) bless his ♥️
Guess where he was from
Wowa! for the last 3 months I'm helping a beautiful Syrian refugee couple... hmmmm
Thanks for that McS🤗
Oh! The Eye of Québec, almost forgot.
[Link]
Off to look into Alashiya
Alessia, the gorgeous grand-daughter of my brothers' Italian immigrant in-laws were ALL busying my dreamnight this past night!! True!! A friendly but clingy dog, 2 regular boiled eggs and 2 boiled cracked duck eggs that I wanted to eat or keep but hesitated on putting them back in their fridge loll The Nona was just getting up from her siesta -- all true!!
Ok, I need breakfast!
The Sumerians had Devbhumi(Land of the Gods) with the area north of it known as Arya-varta, which is where Aryan comes from. Bactria has traditionally been used to name the eastern-most reaches of the Persian realm.
Did you read about Azerbaijan caves, where the salt tastes special and has unique restorative properties? Locals eat it to avoid arthritis retreat into kitted-out caverns for days at a time to treat respiratory illnesses.
Salt yes, salt was 'salary' right, but moreso salt (+ healing) is Spirit, wheras milk is Mom (and lactose intolerance) and sugar is the symbol of our Dad (sugar/parasites)... and all our mommy/daddy issues. 🤦♀️
I looked into Turkey's caves abit a couple of years back, thanks to posters here. The Turkey Cave Derinkuyu.
Here is the video I mentioned to you. I did like the old lady today -- yesterday was awful as was the day prior...
Dagestan ♥️ This video always fills my lungs.
[Link]
Looked into China and Arya-Varta. Geez, thanks for that. Fascinating!!
Another favourite. Siberia also speaks to my core.
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They don't talk to me much after my dad died from cancer caused by agent orange. I'm older now than he ever was. My mom wasn't a fan of being a military wife she hated all the moving-Alaska,California, Maine. Once she got married again I hardly ever saw her again.
I got stuck raising my little brother until 13 then she came and got him. I had gotten too wild by then from raising myself. I had been treated like an adult since I was 8 so by 15 I had the freedom of an adult but the mind of a juvenile
delinquent. It didn't help that when the cops would arrest me
they would get a call and the charges would be dropped. Even tho I never saw my dads side of the family, and maybe his dying wish to them was to make sure that I didn't have a criminal record to keep me from achieving what I set out to do, they would pull strings and make sure my record stayed clean. I'm lucky I survived. The risk and stupid things you do when you know there won't be repercussions is insane. And I never slowed down until the state took my kids away from my ex and gave them to me. For 30 years I lived like I was invincible and became someone I hated. So I quit my high paying job the day I realized that. Bought a house in the country. I even quit drinking which I had done since I was 12. Just woke up one day and didn't feel like it anymore. I went from not being able to go to sleep at night if I had ran out of alcohol to never touching it again. I couldn't believe the brain fog I had been living in all those years drinking. Still shocks me. And all that before I turned 40. 😂
They called me Master Mcsnacks. And of course if I was called that while I was on the phone with an American they would Gasp and say something like "You allow them to call you that?" And you are not their master so tell them to stop. Snow flakes. lol. It was just a sign of having the highest resoect for someone. And a way that they hinted to others that I deserved the utmost respect. When one of them would call me master in front of a new person or group of Chinese you could see their attitude completely change. Because a lot think of Americans as spoiled or mean so they would have that attitude at first until hearing someone call me master.
The path you were destined to WALK, has been -- bravo to you for choosing to not remain bonded.
My apologies, but I'm very close to my intuition as you have noticed I am sure.
IT'S CRAZY out yonder, my goodness!! However I am clear-sighted, lucid, grounded lolll and always been good at 'reading comprehension'. I have been watching n been pro-active in my connections n communications for a long time. When the life buoys keep getting refused, well, it gets tough just before one sinks. I do walk the extra mileS... but I float.
Light is very attractive to the dark. Night and Day. Keep your light bright!!
*******
Mcsnacks that is so key!!!!
And speaks to the key of inteGRITy, wowa!! FireKat!! (that's me loll)
To abide by Source, take the course, eventually pass the test. Hold strong et voilà mon trésor.
TRUTH
VS
Arrogance n PREtense.ion
(Innocent until proven guilty - ) ↕️
I swear! Them porcupines 🥳🥳🥳
Innocence of the child (purity)!!
Crow, magic
Fox, winning strategies
(I told you!! )'Puma'Boss (Master)FireSnake (guess who)
"The goal is a society that is guilty first and innocence must be proven."
*********
* add elephant and opossum to your list
(more later -- and of course I get their fear of your integrity. Keep what you're doing, it is working, some things take time. Oh! Somewhere I did write a bunch of dates, softenings n apologies will be a-comin'
Snowflakes no shit!! Good people melt all the time. So be it.
And no I don't speak the language but it still sounds nice
PumaPeeps are independant of the good opinion of others. 👍👍
(Still Stinks)
Man eh! 2023 and still. Unbegreifbar.
Powerful n true. I get you!
Pretty much all newness for me, but at the start I said.... shaman of old.
Thank you, truly fascinating, hard to know what's b.s. or not unless I know my Source
Loved the scenery 😍
[Link]
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I think I could be watching this: 1* my mind needs different than polite tics typing their fingers into hell 🙈 2* my Dad always loved this stuff (I love the sitting/digging part) and he's reading/listening thru me. Really neat, and healthy n needed.
Na... never went to China but worked for a few pearls, Japanese too. Lovely!
Nook + Cran'd Europe, 😒didn't make it to Ireland but had work in a Monastery set-up which was meant to be my 1st stop n solace, but my feet headed in a different direction n walked all over every other 20s mit mein RuckSack + the N.A's oh n Cancun lollll
(Had wanted to move to Iceland n fascinated by Persia travels but too chicken).
But the foreign countries aren't like that. I have been to some of the most dangerous and as long as you don't show fear or engage with the hoodlums you are fine. It's like that anywhere. Bad people recognize fear and that's who they go after. Bad people have one thing in common with each other. They are cowards.
That's why you can't let people push you around on here. Once you let them they won't let up. Once they see you fight back they then try to ignore and leave you be
He's just gotten back after years' banning. It won't address me.
Lovely thought however.
Maybe something of value to you McS (will keep 'm missing their hero for a few minutes)
[Link]
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SAUERKRAUT, salt-based!!
Note: all halved for you I'd say, start gentle n give it 3 months (you will see if more is needed -- it will repair all and meds if taking will be adjusted.)
1 daily cup + 1 daily 🍎 1st month add small garlic toe, chewed or swallowed.
PH Balance is KEY to perfect HEALTH; GUT 'clean-out' clears anything n all UP⬆️
DIY LactoFermentation 101
[Link]
Daily
[Link]
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(+ I have a couple of 5Rites Videos asap)
+90% of
Ohhhh and re pocupine (12) medicine.... needles Puma Medicine is the sacred guardian of Porcupine.
90% of
90% of online content may be AI-generated garbage by 2026
A recent report from Europol warns that by 2026, as much as 90 percent of online content could be generated by artificial intelligence, raising concerns that the web might be even more jammed with...You make me think of ball-lightning too.