Cats outsmarted in psychologist's test

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Cats outsmarted in psychologist's test (Page 1 of 2)

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:10:36 PM EDT

I guess DOGS really are smarter than cats...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jun/16/psychologist-test-outsmarts-cats

It will cause outrage among some cat owners, but research suggests the pets are not as clever as some humans think they are – or at least think in a way we have yet to fathom.

Psychology lecturer Britta Osthaus says cats do not understand cause-and-effect connections between objects. She tested the thought processes of 15 of them by attaching fish and biscuit treats to one end of a piece of string, placing them under a plastic screen to make them unreachable and then seeing if the cats could work out that pulling on the other end of the string would pull the treat closer.

They were tested in three ways, using a single baited string, two parallel strings where only one was baited, and two crossed strings where only one was baited.

The single string test proved no problem, but unlike dogs (which Osthaus has previously tested) no cat consistently chose correctly between two parallel strings. With two crossed strings, one cat always made the wrong choice and others succeeded no more than might be expected by chance.

Osthaus, of Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, said: "This finding is somehow surprising as cats regularly use their paws and claws to pull things towards them during play and hunting. They performed even worse than dogs, which can at least solve the parallel string task."

The study helped show the limits of feline intelligence, said Osthaus, who conducted the research while a teaching fellow at Exeter University. "If we know their limits we won't expect too much of them, which in turn is important for their welfare. I am not trying to say cats are stupid, just they are different. We are so anthropomorphic we can't see the world through their eyes."

There is just one consolation. Humans don't understand string theory either.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:15:22 PM EDT

[#1]

No surprise to me.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:19:00 PM EDT

[#2]

I have 2 cats that learned how to open a SLIDING screen door unassisted.
I have one that has damn near figured out how to open a door using the doorknob.

ETA: My dog treats a door open less than a foot wide as a solid barrier.
Dumber than a box o rocks.
She is a Jack Russell.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:20:02 PM EDT

[#3]

Hahaha, cats is dumb.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:26:08 PM EDT

[#4]

I love these "definitive" articles, as if it will now be written in stone...forevermore.

No matter how dumb my cats are, I'm just thankful they aren't any smarter. The little pea brain causes enough trouble.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:26:50 PM EDT

[#5]

Sorry, cats are smart enough to not eat shit, unlike dogs.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:27:45 PM EDT

[#6]

Cats are pretty dumb.

The people that say they are smart are the same people that say they are clean, right after their cat bathes in it's own spit and coughs up a hairball on the floor.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:27:54 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Sorry, cats are not smart enough to not eat shit recycle, unlike dogs.

Fixed.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:31:52 PM EDT

[#8]

My cat is a smart little fella.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:35:49 PM EDT

[#9]

Cats are republicans, dogs are democrats.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:47:05 PM EDT

[#10]

Haters.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:48:22 PM EDT

[#11]

My new dog has learned to sit, lay down, sit up, and shake just by watching my other dog do it. Whatever you say about dogs and cats, they are both smart enough to get taken into our homes, get bathed, fed, taken to the vet. They get their shit cleaned up after them.......sometimes when Im teaching my dog a new trick I start to wonder who is training who.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:49:46 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Hahaha, cats is dumb.

Hmmmm....that should be "Hahaha, cats are dumb".

Even my cat knows that.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:51:25 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:

I have 2 cats that learned how to open a SLIDING screen door unassisted.

I have one that has damn near figured out how to open a door using the doorknob.

ETA: My dog treats a door open less than a foot wide as a solid barrier.

Dumber than a box o rocks.

She is a Jack Russell.

isn't that a good thing?

my parents dogs wont open a cracked door, they know they shouldn't so they wait for some one to fully open it so they can go out.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:53:43 PM EDT

[#14]

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:56:09 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Hahaha, cats is dumb.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:56:34 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
My cat is a smart little fella.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa232/brdvictim/Remington/HPIM2996-1.jpg

I have a yellow cat with an M on her forehead just like that.

Posted: 6/16/2009 4:57:55 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Cats are republicans, dogs are democrats.

FUCKING LOVE THAT COMIC!

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:01:35 PM EDT

[#18]

Cats have a limited niche in which they can survive. Dogs are highly adaptive.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:02:58 PM EDT

[#19]

In before SVT's pit thread

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:03:38 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Cats have a limited niche in which they can survive. Dogs are highly adaptive.

Cats are extremely adaptive. They are the only animal who domesticated themselves without the help of humans. A cat can go from being domesticated to living in the wild without losing their primitive senses.

Really neat animals.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:14:39 PM EDT

[#21]

I bask in my superior intelligence...

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:17:07 PM EDT

[#22]

I used canned air on my cats once.

Now if they see me with the can they run away.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:18:28 PM EDT

[#23]

Try teaching a dog to crap in the toilet.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:21:30 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Cats have a limited niche in which they can survive. Dogs are highly adaptive.

Cats are extremely adaptive. They are the only animal who domesticated themselves without the help of humans. A cat can go from being domesticated to living in the wild without losing their primitive senses.

Really neat animals.

Bah...

Dogs domesticated Humans.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:22:18 PM EDT

[#25]

What kind of retarded inbred cats did she use?

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:23:33 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Hahaha, cats is dumb.

Hmmmm....that should be "Hahaha, cats are dumb".

Even my cat knows that.

lol, I do hope you caught on to my sarcasm.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:26:20 PM EDT

[#27]

Can you hear me now?

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:32:02 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:
I have 2 cats that learned how to open a SLIDING screen door unassisted.
I have one that has damn near figured out how to open a door using the doorknob.

ETA: My dog treats a door open less than a foot wide as a solid barrier.
Dumber than a box o rocks.
She is a Jack Russell.

My cat figured out how to work the fucking tv remote. No joke. He'd turn the tv on, mute it, and then change channels until he found a nature documentary or a cartoon, whichever came first.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:39:08 PM EDT

[#29]

There are smart cats and there are dumb cats, as there are smart dogs and dumb dogs.
I've had a cat who taughter herself how to open a door by using the doorknob after watching us go in and out the door.
I have a cat now who figured out how to turn the faucett on in the sink to get a drink of water.
I've also had cats who weren't smart enough to get out of the road when large vehicles were coming at them.
In reality, if you want to see stupid, watch humans!

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:50:26 PM EDT

[#30]

My stupid cat figured out how to push the door latch and get outside. So I guess he's smart but now he's stuck out there which makes him dumb.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:54:00 PM EDT

[#31]

I've had cats that could turn a doorknob to open a door.

I've had smart dogs, but they never figure that part out.

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:56:34 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
My stupid cat figured out how to push the door latch and get outside. So I guess he's smart but now he's stuck out there which makes him dumb.

LOL!!!

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:58:03 PM EDT

[#33]

Cats have the wit

to write brilliant theses

Dogs smells like shit

'cause they eat their own feces

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:58:33 PM EDT

[#34]

In before someone makes a 2nd pit thread screaming about how this is "talking bad bout da catz".

Posted: 6/16/2009 5:59:14 PM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:
I've had cats that could turn a doorknob to open a door.

I've had smart dogs, but they never figure that part out.

Eh, some dogs will fetch beers out the fridge.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:16:57 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
Can you hear me now?
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/k1dw1cked/24feb27-can-you-hear-me-now.jpg

That's fucked up.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:20:27 PM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Can you hear me now?
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj75/k1dw1cked/24feb27-can-you-hear-me-now.jpg

That's fucked up.

Yea.... but funny as hell.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:22:54 PM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Cats have a limited niche in which they can survive. Dogs are highly adaptive.

Cats are extremely adaptive. They are the only animal who domesticated themselves without the help of humans. A cat can go from being domesticated to living in the wild without losing their primitive senses.

Really neat animals.

Bull. Most feral cats don't make it 2 months in the wild. Death is all too common.

Noiw the real feral survivors are hogs. Dogs a close second.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:28:23 PM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Cats have a limited niche in which they can survive. Dogs are highly adaptive.

Cats are extremely adaptive. They are the only animal who domesticated themselves without the help of humans. A cat can go from being domesticated to living in the wild without losing their primitive senses.

Really neat animals.

Bull. Most feral cats don't make it 2 months in the wild. Death is all too common.

Noiw the real feral survivors are hogs. Dogs a close second.

Dingos!

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:31:33 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I've had cats that could turn a doorknob to open a door.

I've had smart dogs, but they never figure that part out.

Eh, some dogs will fetch beers out the fridge.

Yup. Get a cat to do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJP6GpKT6lo

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:32:06 PM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Cats have a limited niche in which they can survive. Dogs are highly adaptive.

Cats are extremely adaptive. They are the only animal who domesticated themselves without the help of humans. A cat can go from being domesticated to living in the wild without losing their primitive senses.

Really neat animals.

Bull. Most feral cats don't make it 2 months in the wild. Death is all too common.

Noiw the real feral survivors are hogs. Dogs a close second.

Perhaps... but if true, I suspect this has more to do with the size of cats versus dogs & other critters they encounter.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:44:48 PM EDT

[#42]

The Psychologist was the dumbest animal in the study.
One type of test "proves" superior intelligence?

Cats and dogs are clever animals, differently.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:50:31 PM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:
I used canned air on my cats once.

Now if they see me with the can they run away.

My cat just squinted his eyes at me like I was the dumb one.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:53:01 PM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I've had cats that could turn a doorknob to open a door.

I've had smart dogs, but they never figure that part out.

Eh, some dogs will fetch beers out the fridge.

Yup. Get a cat to do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJP6GpKT6lo

LOL Dogs can get into anything if they want it bad enough. Leave my little one in a cage for 5 minutes and she will figure a way out. One time i rotated the cage door so it faced a wall. She pushed the cage off the wall, opened the latches, moved a vaccum out of her way and jumped over a gate. Then she tore open a bag of potatoes and passed a few over to her buddy still behind the gate so he can enjoy the feast with her.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:53:13 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:
Sorry, cats are smart enough to not eat shit, unlike dogs.

+1

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:54:02 PM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Sorry, cats are smart enough to not eat shit, unlike dogs.

+1

My old cat would eat puke and none of my dogs have ever ate shit. If they do it's probably the owners fault.

Posted: 6/16/2009 6:54:20 PM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:

My stupid cat figured out how to push the door latch and get outside. So I guess he's smart but now he's stuck out there which makes him dumb.

I've seen that happen. It was a surprising moment for me. Oddly enough, the OWNER of the cat was right there and had never seen kitty do that before. He was

more stunned than I was. "No wonder that cat keeps getting outside."

I think this "researcher" got a hold of some fairly dumb cats. Now try it again with some smart ones.

CJ