Kitty IQ -- an example I noticed

Takayuki wrote in message . ..
I once saw a museum exhibit of various preserved brains. The cat
brain was about the size of a walnut.

A housecat brain is quite a bit larger, maybe the size of a large egg.
I have a degree in zoology and know mammal anatomy quite well.

With the exception of primates, porposises, and whales, the cat brain
is quite advanced and very high on the mammal list. Of course there
are teeny prefontal lobes. But the frontal lobes are well developed.
That normally indicates cognition and possible self-awareness but not
self-introspection.

Self introspection is easily tested with a mirror. If you put a color
spot or some other marker on a chimp or porpoise, where it's not
visible directly but visible in a mirror (on top of their head for
example), the animal will try to rub it. Cats and dogs don't do this.

In other words, cats don't recognize the image in the mirror as
themselves. Neither do they look behind themselves in the mirror if
something appears in the mirror image behind them but isn't directly
visible to them. They can't "use" a mirror's reflection and process
that information. Chimps can do this quickly.

Singer709 wrote:
Takayuki wrote in message . ..

I once saw a museum exhibit of various preserved brains. The cat
brain was about the size of a walnut.


A housecat brain is quite a bit larger, maybe the size of a large egg.
I have a degree in zoology and know mammal anatomy quite well.

With the exception of primates, porposises, and whales, the cat brain
is quite advanced and very high on the mammal list. Of course there
are teeny prefontal lobes. But the frontal lobes are well developed.
That normally indicates cognition and possible self-awareness but not
self-introspection.

Self introspection is easily tested with a mirror. If you put a color
spot or some other marker on a chimp or porpoise, where it's not
visible directly but visible in a mirror (on top of their head for
example), the animal will try to rub it. Cats and dogs don't do this.

In other words, cats don't recognize the image in the mirror as
themselves. Neither do they look behind themselves in the mirror if
something appears in the mirror image behind them but isn't directly
visible to them. They can't "use" a mirror's reflection and process
that information. Chimps can do this quickly.

I've often wondered if the way an animal reacts to a mirror is a
reflection (sorry folks!) of their intelligence. I'm only going on my
own cats' behaviour, and although I'd agree that they don't recognise
the cat in the mirror as themselves, they do twig that something fishy
is going on, to the extent that they'll usually avoid looking in a
mirror at all. They seem to learn as they grow up that mirrors are
strange - they'd happily attack the kitten in the mirror while they were
young.

Singer709 wrote:
Takayuki wrote in message . ..

I once saw a museum exhibit of various preserved brains. The cat
brain was about the size of a walnut.


A housecat brain is quite a bit larger, maybe the size of a large egg.
I have a degree in zoology and know mammal anatomy quite well.

With the exception of primates, porposises, and whales, the cat brain
is quite advanced and very high on the mammal list. Of course there
are teeny prefontal lobes. But the frontal lobes are well developed.
That normally indicates cognition and possible self-awareness but not
self-introspection.

Self introspection is easily tested with a mirror. If you put a color
spot or some other marker on a chimp or porpoise, where it's not
visible directly but visible in a mirror (on top of their head for
example), the animal will try to rub it. Cats and dogs don't do this.

In other words, cats don't recognize the image in the mirror as
themselves. Neither do they look behind themselves in the mirror if
something appears in the mirror image behind them but isn't directly
visible to them. They can't "use" a mirror's reflection and process
that information. Chimps can do this quickly.

I've often wondered if the way an animal reacts to a mirror is a
reflection (sorry folks!) of their intelligence. I'm only going on my
own cats' behaviour, and although I'd agree that they don't recognise
the cat in the mirror as themselves, they do twig that something fishy
is going on, to the extent that they'll usually avoid looking in a
mirror at all. They seem to learn as they grow up that mirrors are
strange - they'd happily attack the kitten in the mirror while they were
young.

Singer709 wrote:
Takayuki wrote in message . ..

I once saw a museum exhibit of various preserved brains. The cat
brain was about the size of a walnut.


A housecat brain is quite a bit larger, maybe the size of a large egg.
I have a degree in zoology and know mammal anatomy quite well.

With the exception of primates, porposises, and whales, the cat brain
is quite advanced and very high on the mammal list. Of course there
are teeny prefontal lobes. But the frontal lobes are well developed.
That normally indicates cognition and possible self-awareness but not
self-introspection.

Self introspection is easily tested with a mirror. If you put a color
spot or some other marker on a chimp or porpoise, where it's not
visible directly but visible in a mirror (on top of their head for
example), the animal will try to rub it. Cats and dogs don't do this.

In other words, cats don't recognize the image in the mirror as
themselves. Neither do they look behind themselves in the mirror if
something appears in the mirror image behind them but isn't directly
visible to them. They can't "use" a mirror's reflection and process
that information. Chimps can do this quickly.

I've often wondered if the way an animal reacts to a mirror is a
reflection (sorry folks!) of their intelligence. I'm only going on my
own cats' behaviour, and although I'd agree that they don't recognise
the cat in the mirror as themselves, they do twig that something fishy
is going on, to the extent that they'll usually avoid looking in a
mirror at all. They seem to learn as they grow up that mirrors are
strange - they'd happily attack the kitten in the mirror while they were
young.

On Thu, 23 Sep, Helen Wheels wrote:

I've often wondered if the way an animal reacts to a mirror is a
reflection (sorry folks!) of their intelligence. I'm only going on my
own cats' behaviour, and although I'd agree that they don't recognise
the cat in the mirror as themselves, they do twig that something fishy
is going on, to the extent that they'll usually avoid looking in a
mirror at all. They seem to learn as they grow up that mirrors are
strange - they'd happily attack the kitten in the mirror while they were
young.

As long as we're on the subject of mirrors, strangeness, and
intelligence, here's a question:

If a mirror reverses right to left, why doesn't it reverse up and
down?

I'll post the answer tomorrow, so if you know the answer, why not hold
onto it till then.

Regards and Purrs,
O J

On Thu, 23 Sep, Helen Wheels wrote:

I've often wondered if the way an animal reacts to a mirror is a
reflection (sorry folks!) of their intelligence. I'm only going on my
own cats' behaviour, and although I'd agree that they don't recognise
the cat in the mirror as themselves, they do twig that something fishy
is going on, to the extent that they'll usually avoid looking in a
mirror at all. They seem to learn as they grow up that mirrors are
strange - they'd happily attack the kitten in the mirror while they were
young.

As long as we're on the subject of mirrors, strangeness, and
intelligence, here's a question:

If a mirror reverses right to left, why doesn't it reverse up and
down?

I'll post the answer tomorrow, so if you know the answer, why not hold
onto it till then.

Regards and Purrs,
O J

On Thu, 23 Sep, Helen Wheels wrote:

I've often wondered if the way an animal reacts to a mirror is a
reflection (sorry folks!) of their intelligence. I'm only going on my
own cats' behaviour, and although I'd agree that they don't recognise
the cat in the mirror as themselves, they do twig that something fishy
is going on, to the extent that they'll usually avoid looking in a
mirror at all. They seem to learn as they grow up that mirrors are
strange - they'd happily attack the kitten in the mirror while they were
young.

As long as we're on the subject of mirrors, strangeness, and
intelligence, here's a question:

If a mirror reverses right to left, why doesn't it reverse up and
down?

I'll post the answer tomorrow, so if you know the answer, why not hold
onto it till then.

Regards and Purrs,
O J