Cat Experiment Suggests They Remember In Ways Similar To Humans & Dogs

[iamn8]

Interesting stuff....

To find out, the researchers worked with 49 cat volunteers, feeding them using multiple bowls of food over time. The researchers learned which types of foods the cats liked best and served it to them in a specific bowl, allowing them to create memories of what was served and when. Later, by switching up the bowls the researchers were able to ascertain whether a given cat remembered such details. Other experiments showed that the cats could remember if they had previously searched a given bowl when looking for a particular treat and the circumstances under which it had occurred.
The researchers report that the cats were able to recall the details of when and where, which, they suggest, shows that much like dogs, they are able to access memories of events and at least some of the details surrounding them. They suggest that it might be possible that cats are able to recall such memories on demand, perhaps as a form of amusement, similar to how we humans daydream. They also note that their research suggests cats may have much longer memories than has been thought—they plan to conduct additional experiments to find out.

How Cats Remember....

 

[brian64]

To find out, the researchers worked with 49 cat volunteers

I don't doubt they have good memories, but I don't believe cats ever volunteer for anything.
There is however reason to believe their powers go far beyond memory:

'Psychic cat' is bought by a Siberian witch for £66,750 in Russia after spooking its owner and putting his marriage in jeopardy
The owner said he loathed fish and sausages but the cat made him crave those foods, local media reports claimed.
He said: 'He would wake me up at 5 am giving me a strong desire to eat fish or sausage.
'So much so that I had to go out right then to buy it, and give it to the cat.
Claimed cat could appear from behind locked doors and play mind games on him that forced him to go shopping in the middle of the night to buy food

He claimed a Siberian 'witch' arrived on his doorstep and after examining the cat, decided it had 'supernatural' powers and decided to buy the animal
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4161012/Psychic-cat-bought-Siberian-witch-66-750.html

 

[mcitinner1]

Velly Interesting.... :wink:

 

[mso489]

I admit bias, but I think that the limitations on animal thought processes are in the human researchers more than the animals. These aren't human processes so they are often interpreted as no thought processes at all, hence we keep amazing ourselves when we design studies that show creatures are actively thinking, but not so much like people. People who live with animals participate in some fairly complex and subjective (from both sides) conversations, but they write it off to their own imaginations because they know they aren't supposed to attribute thought to their creatures.
My zinger is that people who are especially adamant (and angry) about forbidding anthropomorphizing animals also find it impossible to anthropomorphize people. Or to be less jokey, these are people who are genetically unable to empathize with anyone or anything.
I've had complex/intricate conversations (non-verbal) with cats about various subjects. Deposing a tabby on the bed, having him hiss, then figuring out how to observe his right to space, and having space of my own, without offending him. If that is not a thought process, I don't know what is.

 

[iamn8]

yes i agree. Science has a very cold, detached way of measuring things. Those of us with pets are quite aware of their ability to converse nonverbally and show an intelligence which science will never be able measure because of its nature.

 

[jerwynn]

We are into our second year of sharing our home with a keeshond pup and are absolutely STUNNED at the native intelligence and expressiveness of the wee doggerel. Smartest quadruped we've ever known! Also the most stubborn and strong-willed little gasterd.

 

[jacks6]

I believe it. Smart creatures.

 

[mso489]

Sometimes I "explain and discuss" with my cats. I don't think they understand all but a few words, so they certainly don't follow the line of thought. However, they do know I am paying attention; they know my attitude by my tone; they know how sustained or short my vocalization; they can see how it relates to what I am doing -- feeding them, getting into bed, opening a new scratch pad, etc. etc. Also, what we forget is how intensely they study us and our relationship with them, and all of our habits and schedules. They spend far more time studying us than we do them. We are a food source hence a full-time job for them. That is part of the reason why it takes us by surprise that they become extremely emotionally close to us even compared to most people, and why their loss is so severe, while sometimes our loss of people is complicated and conflicted. When people doubt their mental processes, I confess I doubt that person's mental processes, or perhaps their powers of observation. Watch the damned cat or dog -- it knows more about you than you do about it, most often.

 

[mayfair70]

I've never seen a cat volunteer for anything. Everything else is logically sound. They always train me very well.

 

[yaddy306]

What's interesting to me is how the researchers' conclusion that the

results "suggest" that cats retrieved and utilized “what” and “where” information from an incidentally encoded memory from a single experience

is "translated" by the media into headlines reading "New study says cats are just as smart as dogs, they just don't feel like showing it" or "Cats Are As Clever As Dogs", whereas the researchers concluded nothing of the sort.

 

[snowyowl]

 

[mso489]

Some cats are definitely jerks. My late wife and I used to sit for a pair of cats, Gray and Orange. Orange was the sweetest cat alive. Gray was just mean. She slept right up beside our pillows but wouldn't be petted ever, just hostile. We got her back to her owner in good shape, but were glad she wasn't ours. Another Siamese my late wife adopted in grad school had separation anxiety and was intensely vocal. She found happiness living with my in-laws, and with two big dogs she loved to hate though they paid her little attention. My mother-in-law loved the cat and revived her from a near death experience and maintained her on a heating pad where she (the cat) lived into her twenties, I think. But that same arbitrary nature also makes most cats companionable because they are complicated and interesting.

 

[aldecaker]

I can't believe there's a Russian who doesn't like fish and sausages. The rest of the stuff seems plausible.