ekwok@cadsys.UUCP (Kwok Ed) (09/27/85)
-- This is a serious posting -- I am very interested in how other mammals' perception of the world differ from ours. In particular, that of the cat, since I have one whose behavior never ceases to amaze me. I read in net.bizarre that cats are deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they cannot see stationary things. Net.bizarre posters are not the most reliable source of scientific authority, as we all know. I am posting in net.pets to ask for more credible opinions. P.S. This may sound utterly stupid - but, does any one knows if cats communicate, besides body-language, among themselves? -- So there ...
ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (09/28/85)
> I read in net.bizarre that cats are > deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they > cannot see stationary things. Well, my two cats can hear a can of cat food being opened from anywhere in the house. The moment I crunch down on the can lid with the opener, I hear CLUNK-pat-pat-pat-pat-pat and one or two cats will come into the kitchen. This is based on hearing, not smell, because the same thing happens if I open a can of something other than cat food. I don't believe that cats cannot see stationary things -- if so, they would bump into things.
levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) (09/28/85)
In article <160@cadsys.UUCP>, ekwok@cadsys.UUCP (Kwok Ed) writes: >-- This is a serious posting -- >... >I read in net.bizarre that cats are >deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they >cannot see stationary things. >... Sound bizarre to me, too. I used to have a cat (or the cat had me :-). Poor "Campus" went deaf after about 12 years of age--the difference was very noticeable. Before she went deaf, one of the things that would drive her batty was to meow at her. She would meow back--and when I recorded about a minute of this and played it back (moderate volume, from a cheap cassette machine), she was in a definite fighting mood, apparently thinking it was another cat in her territory! I only tried this once, since I did not want to annoy her too much. She usually would come running when I "here, kitty"'ed long enough, too. After her deafness set in, even hollering at her loudly would not cause her to even blink. Maybe cats are blind to stationary things--I don't know, since you would have to keep the cat from moving its eyes or head while testing this to prevent relative motion. Campus had no trouble whatsoever finding her favorite food-- cheese!--after it was placed on the ground. She just went right to it, no stopping to sniff around for it. She also had no trouble finding her favorite scratching sofa :-). And I also discovered that although she did not usually mind being carried face up (cradled in arms) she would go into a blue panic if carried into a high-ceilinged stairwell this way (must have looked like a long drop). But her forte was definitely in finding moving objects-- she would usually not want to "play" with a stationary hanging cord but would go mad chasing it if it was wiggled. Once she batted at the screen of a port- able TV sitting on the floor that was showing a scene of flying fighter jets. -- ------------------------------- Disclaimer: The views contained herein are | dan levy | yvel nad | my own and are not at all those of my em- | an engihacker @ | ployer or the administrator of any computer | at&t computer systems division | upon which I may hack. | skokie, illinois | -------------------------------- Path: ..!ihnp4!ttrdc!levy
plw@mgwess.UUCP (Pete Wilson) (09/29/85)
In article <160@cadsys.UUCP> ekwok@cadsys.UUCP (Edward C. Kwok) writes: > >I am very interested in how other mammals' perception of the world >differ from ours. In particular, that of the cat, since I have one whose >behavior never ceases to amaze me. I read in net.bizarre that cats are >deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they >cannot see stationary things. Net.bizarre posters are not the most >reliable source of scientific authority, as we all know. I am posting >in net.pets to ask for more credible opinions. > >P.S. This may sound utterly stupid - but, does any one knows if cats >communicate, besides body-language, among themselves? >-- >So there ... These observations are based on a five year study of 5 cats in whose house I reside. You may also have heard that cats can see a lot better in the dark than humans. Actually, they can see only marginally better in the dark. They depend more on an acute sense of hearing. It may be true that cats' eyes adapt faster than ours, though. A cat can hear another cat walking on carpet at least two rooms away. With two radios and a TV going, my cats can tell if a car pulling in the driveway belongs here (i.e., my or my wife's car) or if it belongs to a stranger, while they are napping(!) in the back of the house (inside, windows closed). The way I can tell this is that if I am home and my wife pulls in the drive- way, they run downstairs to the front door. If I'm home alone and a stranger (to them) pulls in the front, they hide under the bed. They do this even before I know anybody has arrived! I also have heard that cats can't see stationary objects. The theory went something like this: The human eye is constantly rotating in very small circles in order to see 'edges' of objects. The brain 'fills in' the middle portion of the object based on what is seen at the edges. A possible way to verify this is to stare at a solid color (smooth)wall from a short distance away. Most people experience some degree of vertigo. Or look at a solid color circle on a flat surface of another color. After a short time, the circle will 'disappear'. A cat's eyes don't rotate, they are stationary. The conclusion was that the effect would be the same as that of the second experiment. At least that's the way I heard it. I tend to disagree with the conclusion. A cat will stare at an object that appeared to move, for quite awhile. If this object 'disappeared' as in the experiment, then the cat would lose interest rather quickly. A supporting piece of evidence for the conclusion is that when a cat is awake, their head and eyes are in almost constant motion, either from walking around or just gaping at the scenery. The result being that very little in the cat's range of vision is stationary with respect to the cat. As to whether or not cats communicate with each other, I'm not sure. Only one of my cats will make vocal sounds at the others. The rest will hiss and growl, but not meow at their peers. I would almost swear that they are telepathic, though, both with each other and with humans. The anecdotal evidence being the 'herd' response to something that scares one of them causing the rest to panic even though they are in different parts of the house. Cats' sense of smell, I think, is just different that humans' - not necessarily better. My range for the smell of cat shit is about 2 blocks. My cats', however, is about 1/4 inch. I mean, they have to practically put their noses in that stuff in order to verify that that's what it is (GAG!!)! On the other hand, I think that just about all cats smell the same (if they're clean!). The cats can tell if one of them has even been petted by a non-household person (hiss, spit, growl). Have I covered just about everything you wanted to know about cats and couldn't care less about? Pete Wilson AT&T IS CGBS Montgomery Works ..!ihnp4!mgnetp!mgwess!plw <If life begins at 40, what is it that ends at 39?>
booter@lll-crg.UUCP (Elaine Richards) (09/30/85)
In article <160@cadsys.UUCP> ekwok@cadsys.UUCP (Edward C. Kwok) writes: >I am very interested in how other mammals' perception of the world >differ from ours. In particular, that of the cat, since I have one whose etc... >P.S. This may sound utterly stupid - but, does any one knows if cats >communicate, besides body-language, among themselves? Cats see moving objects. There is a common belief that they do not perceive stationary objects. I think they are stubborn and refuse to acnowledge things that are not opening cans or offering a good scritch behind the ears. They hear everything. They have superior hearing to humans in every way. I doubt they see colors like the higher primates do. Cat communication. Smell. That is why toms spray. Kitty sniffs your shoes when you come home to assess what kind of day you had. (Hmmm...out with another kitty, the gigolo!). This is how they tell each other's gender. They can tell if a cat is a neuter or a kitten. Sight. Cats have very definite facial expressions. Ears cocked back when angry. Closed (or half closed) eyes when happy. Haloween Cat body language when scaredd or for kittens, when at play. Sound. Ever hear a queen (female) in heat? YOWWWW YOWEEE PRUUT? WANG!! Ever hear her lover on the other side of the screen ? YANG OWWWW!!!! They hiss, spit and purr, too. With humans, they come into your bedroom at the crack of dawn,leap into the bed and casually stroll across your tender ticklish spots. They have this casual 'Oh, I didn't know YOU were here look'. They think we really believe they cannot see stationary objects. Anyway, I could go on forever. Enjoy your new kitty. It will give you many amusing anecdotes. E *****
rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (10/01/85)
> I am very interested in how other mammals' perception of the world > differ from ours. In particular, that of the cat, since I have one whose > behavior never ceases to amaze me. I read in net.bizarre that cats are > deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they > cannot see stationary things. Net.bizarre posters are not the most > reliable source of scientific authority,... Which, as you know, is a delicate understatement. Cats have extremely sensitive hearing compared to humans. They are COLOR-blind (as far as we can tell). They are comparatively nearsighted, although they can detect motion very well at longer distances. They have a good sense of smell. > P.S. This may sound utterly stupid - but, does any one knows if cats > communicate, besides body-language, among themselves? Well, spraying is a form of communication. You could even call it a form of written communication with SUBSTANTIAL duration. There is a small vocabulary of sounds that cats use to communicate. They include at least: - kitten's "distress" call to mama - various growls and shrieks in territorial battles; there are several which indicate progress and status (challenge, anger, fear, grudging submission,...) - chattering sound indicating prey being stalked - meow of distress There are various others. The chatter seems to be mostly something between the cat and the prey--I suspect it's an attempt at mimicry but I don't really know--but it does call other cats. The distress meow can be very similar to a cat's normal meow but other cats recognize it because they come to see what's going on and sniff at the animal in distress. Some cats also have an assortment of play sounds which other cats may recognize. I would have mentioned purring, but I don't know that cats use it to communicate with one another--it works quite well for communicating to humans, however. -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind.
jp@faron.UUCP (Jeffrey Picciotto) (10/01/85)
> ... I read ... that cats are > deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they > cannot see stationary things. Cats can definitely hear. It may be that the frequencies that actually hear are limited (I don't know), but certainly they can hear voices, tvs, etc. I have heard that cats are partially blind. Rumours include: color blindness and not being able to see stationary objects. The former may be true. The latter is almost irrelevant. Figure: it's almost impossible to hold one's head completely immobile, so all objects (relative to one's head) are moving, and therefore visible. It would be interesting to know if cats are color blind. -- kami
wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (10/01/85)
For some more authoritative info on what your cat, or dog, or goldfish, or whatever, sees, I recommend that you check your local library for this book: HOW ANIMALS SEE, by Sandra Sinclair (Facts on File, 1985): It is a large-format but relatively thin book.
mikel@codas.UUCP (Mikel Manitius) (10/04/85)
> -- This is a serious posting -- > > I am very interested in how other mammals' perception of the world > differ from ours. In particular, that of the cat, since I have one whose > behavior never ceases to amaze me. I read in net.bizarre that cats are > deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they > cannot see stationary things. Net.bizarre posters are not the most > reliable source of scientific authority, as we all know. I am posting > in net.pets to ask for more credible opinions. > > P.S. This may sound utterly stupid - but, does any one knows if cats > communicate, besides body-language, among themselves? > -- > So there ... Cats are not deaf! As a matter of fact, they can hear better than humans, I remember many years ago, when I lived with my parents at home, in an appartament complex, my cat could tell when my father was entering the lobby, she would run up to the front door and put her paws on it, seconds later, my father would enter, there was no way she could smell or see him from the appartament. I can venture to say that cat's do communicate, at least on a low level, haven't you ever heard the mating moew of a male cat in an alley before? and the female is attracted (visa versa, only works on males for humans, sigh) I also had certain calls for my cat to tell her when to come eat, and she would come running, she was also trained to the word "fish" (in another language actually), it was the most powerfull, because usually when we would say fish, she would get a smelt (small raw fish), I could always get her attention with this. Anyone who thinks cats are blind, is off their rocker on my book. However cats and dogs are known to only see black and white. -- ======= Mikel Manitius ==----===== AT&T ...!{ihnp4!}codas!mikel ==------===== Information Systems (305) 869-2462 ===----====== SDSS Regional Support AT&T-IS ETN: 755 =========== Altamonte Springs, FL My opinions are my own. =======
barth@tellab1.UUCP (Barth Richards) (10/05/85)
In article <4371@alice.UUCP> ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) writes: >> I read in net.bizarre that cats are >> deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they >> cannot see stationary things. > >I don't believe that cats cannot see stationary things -- if so, they >would bump into things. True, cats can see stationary things. However, they rely on the detection of movement more than primates (like us) do. Primates have stereoscopic vision. This means that their eyes work in close coordination to produce a three dimensional image. Other animals do not have much in the way of depth perception, though many of them do have higher powers of sight, in other areas, than primates. For example, dogs can see much better in low light than we can. So, this lack of depth perception in animals other than primates means that they sometimes find it difficult to distinguish a stationary object from its surroundings, but have no such difficulty when it is moving. Of course, most mammals (again, excluding primates) do not have color vision. This adds to this difficulty in seeing stationary objects, in that being able to distinguish colors would help to distinguish objects from surroundings. For example, if a red ball is laying among green bushes, being able to distinguish between red and green would help you see the ball. If, however, both colors appear to you as grey, it would be harder to see the ball among the bushes, since you would be relying on shape alone to make the distinction between the ball and the bushes around it. Thought ya might like ta know. Barth Richards Tellabs, Inc. Lisle, IL "Ford, do you realize that robot can hum like Pink Floyd?" -Arthur Dent p.s. ALWAYS take what you read in net.bizarre with a pound of salt.
jml@drutx.UUCP (LeonJM) (10/07/85)
A long time ago I saw a cartoon on a refridgerator door that was about the spoken language of cats. Here is the upshot: Interviewer: Professor Titus has spent the last 10 years studying the language of cats and has discovered what that language is. It must have been a exciting discovery for you Dr. Titus. Please tell us what you found. Dr. Titus: Actually it was rather disapointing. They're entire vocabulary consists of two phrases: "When do I eat?" and "Everything here is mine!" :-) My wife and I believe that our cat, Seagrams, has an "extended" vocabulary: "I'm BORED!" John Leon AT&T ihnp4!drutx!jml
phil@talaris.UUCP (Phil Cohen) (10/08/85)
Ever notice how cats sway back and forth from side to side just before they pounce on a toy, mouse, bird etc.? A neuroscientist friend once told me this lateral motion increases their depth perception.
jans@orca.UUCP (Jan Steinman) (10/08/85)
In article <133@codas.UUCP> mikel@codas.UUCP (Mikel Manitius) writes: >However cats... are known to only see black and white. > MYTH! LIE!! BLATANT UNTRUTH!!! This myth has been mentioned several times in this newsgroup, and is wrong! Cats, while not enjoying the range of color vision humans do, percieve blue, green and red. As far as I know, they do not percieve yellow. If any are interested, I can try to dig up the vet ref on this subject. Want to prove it to yourself? We purchased ping-pong balls for our two cats to play with. Some were white, others were "high-visibility" yellow. Neither got much activity. After reading about color perception in cats, we colored some of them red with felt markers. These red ones are now their favorite toys. (I know, not very scientific, they can probably sniff the felt-pen ink, the two colors probably have different "gray" levels, etc.) Its a matter of degree. Certain varieties of birds that perceive ultra- violet and infra-red would probably consider humans quite color blind. -- :::::: Artificial Intelligence Machines --- Smalltalk Project :::::: :::::: Jan Steinman Box 1000, MS 61-405 (w)503/685-2956 :::::: :::::: tektronix!tekecs!jans Wilsonville, OR 97070 (h)503/657-7703 ::::::
wiebe@ut-ngp.UTEXAS (Anne Hill Wiebe) (10/10/85)
Cats certainly can see stationary objects. I did some research as an undergraduate on the vision of cats, for an introductory experimental psychology course. I used my own two sweet kitties, :-) and they loved it! I was trying to determine whether cats could see and interpret images they see in mirrors. Library research shows a LOT of experimental evidence (as if we cat-lovers really needed it) that cats can see stationary objects; they are frequently asked to learn to approach black-and-white striped backgrounds and avoid black-and-white polka-dot backgrounds, for example. They learn this rather well and quickly. (The way you teach this is to reward them with a treat when they approach the background you're trying to teach them to approach.) I did the same thing using the treats in front of such painted backgrounds - definitely nonmoving - but the cat could only see it reflected in mirrors. She had to choose which way to go to get to a treatbowl she could see in the mirror. Both the striped and the dotted backgrounds had treatbowls, and both contained treats which she could smell (a bit of canned tuna); but the treat in front of the dotted background had a lid with holes punched in it; she wouldn't be able to eat it, only smell it. Both of my cats learned within a few days (ten trial runs a day, no other food - yes, they got plenty to eat) to choose a striped background. Long story, please forgive - but believe me, this was a *very* carefully controlled experiment, following up on much other such research, showing cats learning to respond to visual stimuli that didn't move. On colorblindness - the same literature shows that cats CAN see colors, they CAN be taught to distinguish them. It takes months of training for them to learn it, though; so the first research on it concluded they cannot see colors. It's as if they had to learn to pay attention to something they'd never considered before. (Those experiments must have been very frustrating for the cats and the researchers alike!) Sorry this is so long - but if you're interested in learning more, I suggest Psychological Abstracts, under Cats. The vision of cats has been studied quite a bit.
gary@ur-cvsvax.UUCP (Gary Sclar) (10/10/85)
> In article <4371@alice.UUCP> ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) writes: > >> I read in net.bizarre that cats are > >> deaf and partly blind - in the sense that they cannot hear and that they > >> cannot see stationary things. > > > >I don't believe that cats cannot see stationary things -- if so, they > >would bump into things. > > True, cats can see stationary things. However, they rely on the detection of > movement more than primates (like us) do. > > Primates have stereoscopic vision. This means that their eyes work in close > coordination to produce a three dimensional image. Other animals do not have > much in the way of depth perception, though many of them do have higher powers > of sight, in other areas, than primates. For example, dogs can see much better > in low light than we can. > > So, this lack of depth perception in animals other than primates means that > they sometimes find it difficult to distinguish a stationary object from its > surroundings, but have no such difficulty when it is moving. > > Of course, most mammals (again, excluding primates) do not have color vision. > This adds to this difficulty in seeing stationary objects, in that being able > to distinguish colors would help to distinguish objects from surroundings. > > For example, if a red ball is laying among green bushes, being able to > distinguish between red and green would help you see the ball. If, however, > both colors appear to you as grey, it would be harder to see the ball among > the bushes, since you would be relying on shape alone to make the distinction > between the ball and the bushes around it. > > Thought ya might like ta know. > > > Barth Richards > Tellabs, Inc. > Lisle, IL > > "Ford, do you realize that robot > can hum like Pink Floyd?" > -Arthur Dent > > p.s. ALWAYS take what you read in net.bizarre with a pound of salt. 1) cats can clearly see stationary objects; we know because cells in the cats visual system (at least some of them) respond to standing (stationary) contrasts; there are many cells, however, that seem specialized to detect moving stimuli, especially things moving at high speeds; neurophysiologists (like me) refer to these, for a variety of reasons, as "Y" cells 2) cats do make eye movements, but not of the same amplitude or frequency as those made by humans; rather they prefer to fixate an object by moving their heads 3) cats possess excellent depth perception; do you think they'd be able to jump off high shelves and stuff and not kill themselves without it? roughly 90 % of the cells in the cat's visual cortex normal receive and combine inputs from the two eyes and almost all of these, one way or another, are sensitive to binocular disparities (ie- the differences in the images received by the two eyes from objects at different distances and directions relative to the observer); the ability to perceive depth is a characteristic of all predator animals, not just primates, and the hallmark of this ability are the forward facing eyes of they possess; things like rabbits, which aren't predators, don't have this; other things, which are not mammals but are predators do (owls falcons eagles) 4) cats do see better in the dark then we do; the cat retina is based, primarily, on a type of photoreceptor specially engineered for sensitivity in the dark; these are called rods; we also have them, but rely more on the other type (cones); cats also have some cones, but a much smaller percentage; also, it is thought that cats only have, at best 2 kinds of cones; 3 {blue, green and red} are required for full blow trichromatic color vision; cats have some ability to distinguish colors, but much poorer then our own; other cat specializations for night vision a) their pupils are much larger then ours and the special shape also helps- admits more light, b) the front surface of their eyes have much more light gathering power c)they have a reflective layer in the back of the eye (called the tapetum) that gives light a second chance to pass through the photoreceptors 5) cat vision is poorer then our own in the sense that it is not as acute- they can't see things with as fine a grain as we can; in other words the cats world would look, i think, slightly out of focus to us; but its fine for them; being closer to the ground they dont have to see things as far away as we do; their vision is scaled to their needs- things that are closer subtend a larger visual angle, so vision need not be so acute g. sclar @ Center for Visual Science; University of rochester {decvax,seismo, other!rochester!ur-cvsvax!gary}
rcd@nbires.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (10/15/85)
> Ever notice how cats sway back and forth from side to side > just before they pounce on a toy, mouse, bird etc.? > > A neuroscientist friend once told me this lateral motion > increases their depth perception. Ever notice how the motion is mostly in the cat's hindquarters? Watch carefully; the head is almost still when this happens. I'd like a know- ledgable explanation; I've always thought that it was just a windup--some sort of "getting the motion together." When cats want a better idea of what they're watching, they seem to tilt their heads to the side (which alters the sort of information coming in for stereo perception, though it would seem in only minor ways). -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...Simpler is better.
etan@tellab1.UUCP (Nate Stelton) (10/15/85)
In article <116@talaris.UUCP> phil@talaris.UUCP (Phil Cohen) writes: > >Ever notice how cats sway back and forth from side to side >just before they pounce on a toy, mouse, bird etc.? > >A neuroscientist friend once told me this lateral motion >increases their depth perception. Is this the same reason why some just wiggle their butts? And why is it that, when they see a bird, cats softly chirp to themselves? -etan
abc@brl-sem.ARPA (Brint Cooper ) (10/15/85)
Several writers have described evidence that cats see stationary objects, then go on to describe conditions where the object is stationary but the cat (or at least his/her eyes) aren't. I think that the real question is how well cats see objects that are stationare with respect to their eyes. That is, if a cat holds his head absolutely still, how well (relative to, say a human) does he perceive objects? Brint
mbr@aoa.UUCP (Mark Rosenthal) (10/16/85)
In article <428@brl-sem.ARPA> abc@brl-sem (SECAD/CSMB) <abc>.ARPA (Brint Cooper (SECAD/CSMB) <abc>) writes: > >Several writers have described evidence that cats see stationary >objects, then go on to describe conditions where the object is >stationary but the cat (or at least his/her eyes) aren't. > >I think that the real question is how well cats see objects that are >stationare with respect to their eyes. That is, if a cat holds his head >absolutely still, how well (relative to, say a human) does he perceive >objects? This may be an unreasonable question. I remember reading some time ago about experiments in which an image was held stationary with respect to a HUMAN eye. The image faded surprisingly rapidly. I believe the experiment involved some mechanism for immobilizing the eyeball. Apparently our eyes are constantly moving, even when we think we are holding them (and our heads) still. While I don't remember the source of this information, I think it may have been in a volume of Scienterrific American. Anyone got more data on this? -- Mark of the Valley of Roses ...!{decvax,linus,ima,ihnp4}!bbncca!aoa!mbr
barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (10/16/85)
> It would be interesting to know if cats are color blind. -- kami
It may be that cats are color blind in the *human* sense, but, from
observation, I've observed they *can* differentiate color. At least
my cat, Feton, can. When she joined our household last year, we gave
her a toy, which happened to be red. For several months ANYTHING red
(including Christmas wrap) was fair game. [A mixture of colored toys
seems to have "cured" that habit.]
This isn't scientific, I know, but it is an observation.
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ooo ooothomas@utah-gr.UUCP (Spencer W. Thomas) (10/21/85)
In article <324@aoa.UUCP> mbr@aoa.UUCP (Mark Rosenthal) writes: > >I remember reading some time ago about >experiments in which an image was held stationary with respect to a HUMAN eye. >The image faded surprisingly rapidly. I, too, remember reading about this, but don't remember where, or when. I think the time constant for fading was something like 1/10 second! -- =Spencer ({ihnp4,decvax}!utah-cs!thomas, thomas@utah-cs.ARPA) "When wrath runs rampage in your heart you must hold still that rambunctions tongue!" - Sappho