If you live with one or more cats, you will know that they love to sit on the boxes. However, according to a new scientific project, cats like to sit inside square contours as much as they do in boxes. This shows that cats, like people, can be fooled with optical illusions.
In fact, the feline instinct to sit or crawl into boxes extends beyond cats. According to the Florida Big Cat Rescue animal sanctuary (United States), lions, tigers, leopards, bobcats and lynxes also enjoy the boxes. Thus, the researchers were able to show that, if square contours are pasted on the ground, the cats feel the urge to enter.
Investigation Development
After listening to a lecture on how dogs react to visual illusions, Gabriella Smith, an animal cognition scientist at the Thinking Dog Center in New York, wondered if cats reacted the same way to optical illusions.
The group of researchers contacted more than 560 cat owners through social networks (specifically on Twitter) to begin an investigation. And, over the course of six days, the volunteers used paper and scissors to create square outlines that created the optical illusion.
Similarly, the volunteers had to design square shapes oriented in such a way that they did not generate any illusions (that is, as if it were the game of ‘Pac-Man’). Also, to prevent the owners from influencing the cats in any way, they were asked to wear sunglasses to hide their eyes.
Once the owners posted the papers on the floor, they let their pets into the room. The volunteers then checked in which ways the cats had decided to sit, and whether this lasted more than three seconds. In addition, they had to videotape the test.
Research findings
Finally, only 30 pet owners completed all the tests. And, of these, only nine cats made at least one choice during the experiment. The researchers found that the cats chose the illusory square seven times.
Thus, according to researcher Smith, this is an indicator that cats are susceptible to optical illusion. Additionally, the research provides information on their sensitivity to contours and how they compare to humans and other animals.
Why do you like boxes so much?
For now, according to researchers, what prompts cats to sit on illusory boxes or squares remains a mystery. According to the researcher, it is possible that cats enjoy boxes or laundry baskets due to the pressure they provide. Another theory is that the boxes awaken the hunting instinct of cats, since they can ambush their prey.
Now scientists want to find out if they can fool cats with 3D versions of the illusion and if big cats, like leopards or lynxes, are also vulnerable to optical illusions.
