Cat intelligence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cat intelligence is the considered capacity of learning, thinking, problem solving, reasoning, and adaptability possessed by the domestic cat. Cats are solitary predators, so they need to think more about how they catch their prey than pack animals, such as wolves. It also makes them harder to teach tricks, due to not being as willing to please as dogs.

Contents 1 Brain Size and Surface Area 2 The Learning Cat 3 Intelligence by Breed 3.1 Intelligence for Recognized Breeds by Animal Planet 4 Cat tricks 4.1 Blinking 4.2 Opening doors and windows 4.3 Turning on water 4.4 Retrieving items from hard to reach places 4.5 Using the toilet 4.6 Playing fetch 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Brain Size and Surface Area

The brain size of the average cat is 5 centimeters in length and 30 grams. Since the average cat is 60 cm long and 3.3 kg,^[1] the brain makes up one twelfth of its full length, and 1/110 of its weight. Thus, the average cat's brain accounts for 0.9% of its total body weight, compared to 2% of total body weight in the average human. Ultimately, however, there is no conclusive proof of correlation between brain mass and intelligence. The surface area of a cat's brain is approximately 83 cm². The modern human brain is about 1350-1400 cm².

[edit] The Learning Cat

Cats learn by trial and error, observation and imitation.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Cats' learning abilities are aided by their good memory.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]} Researchers Norman Maier and Theodore C. Schneirla reportedly found cats to have long-term spatial recall of at least 16 hours, as compared to no more than five minutes in dogs.^[15] In terms of working memory, dogs greatly outperformed cats.^[16] In another study, it was found that cats possess visual memory ability comparable to that of monkeys.^[17]

[edit] Intelligence by Breed

Ranking the intelligence of cats by breed is popular among pet owners, veterinarians and others, but the practice tends to run into difficulties. The Animal Planet website, for instance, ranked cat breeds' average intelligence on a 1-10 scale; 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest.^[18] Animal Planet goes on to define "intelligence" as: "the general amount of "smarts" the breed tends to exhibit",^[19] which, aside from being vague is in fact circular (that is, it amounts to saying that intelligence is being defined in terms of intelligence, which is not helpful if one wants to know what "intelligence" means in this context). Moreover, the website does not discuss how intelligence (or "smarts") was measured, which if any tests the cats had to perform, etc. Animal Planet's approach therefore does not represent a scientific investigation, and in general the subject of cat intelligence rankings tends to be a subjective business.

For example, some cat breeders consider the exotic shorthairs smarter than Persians,^[20] but cat breeder Norman Auspitz states the following: "As a rule, people seem to think the more active breeds have higher intelligence than the less active breeds. I will tell you that in feline agility, all breeds have done very well or very poorly as the case may be. Having said that, there is no certified measure of cat intelligence and this general rule may be very anthropomorphic... until there is a credible definition of what might be meant by cat intelligence and a way to measure it, any comment anyone will make about the subject is, at best, speculation."^[21]

Nevertheless, for the sake of interest, here are Animal Planet's cat intelligence rankings by breed:

[edit] Intelligence for Recognized Breeds by Animal Planet

[edit] Cat tricks

[edit] Blinking

Blinking behavior is common in cats and may be a sign of trust or affection. Cats will respond to a human who purposefully closes and opens their eyes by reciprocating the action.^[22] This perhaps illustrates a remarkable aspect of cat intelligence that is rare in non-human animals; that they are able to identify and relate part of their own anatomy to the same structure on another species.

[edit] Opening doors and windows

Cats which are accustomed to being let outside, or which want to get into their home, may learn to open windows and doors. They are capable of learning different routes for entry and exit; for instance a cat might find the window in its owner's kitchen easier to open to exit the house, but to get in, they might have to use the screen door in the backyard. Also, they may learn to open cupboard doors to get to food.

[edit] Turning on water

Cats may prefer the taste of fresh water to the water in their dishes, so they might find it useful to learn to operate the faucet. By coming into the kitchen or bathroom at the time a human is using the water, they may pick up how to work it. After some trial and error, they may finally figure out the right temperature and how to drink out of it without making a mess of themselves.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Retrieving items from hard to reach places

A cat playing with a ball may suddenly find that the ball is under the couch. The cat will try different ways, changing paws, position, and other elements, the way a human would. This trial and error approach to puzzle solving can be demonstrated in the laboratory using Thorndike's puzzle boxes. In these boxes, cats must manipulate series of levers in order to escape. They initially achieve this by trial and error, before committing the sequence to memory. They also use memory to reduce the amount of trial and error when encountering comparable novel situations e.g. new puzzle boxes.^[2] The cat may also be taught to get treats from high and hard to reach places, like on top of a refrigerator, or in a cupboard. Using the same logic as it did with the toy, the cat will get to each treat. A cat that has figured out where the cat food is kept may find that the food is inside a large bag. It might try to get in the bag or open it by means of removing the clip. Cats can also, sometimes, be observed working with each other or even a dog to get cat food, e.g. a cat knocking down cat food from a cupboard, the dog chewing open the tin or packet, and then both of them sharing the food.

[edit] Using the toilet

Because of their sensitive sense of smell, cats prefer going outside to urinate and defecate. Kittens need no training to use a litter box and cover up their waste; once they understand where the litter box is they will seek it out from then on. Cats can be trained to make use of a toilet.^[23] Some cats learn on their own, while others are taught by owners and possibly even from their mothers as young kittens. In general, however, a toilet-trained cat is a rare animal, and successful toilet training of cats depends both on the willingness of the animal to learn a rather awkward manuever and on the patience of the owner teach it one.

As a point of general interest, a course on cat toilet training can be found on a website devoted to legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus. It is entitled "The Charles Mingus Cat Toilet Training Program," and appears to have been written sometime in the 1960s by the bassist himself.^[24]

[edit] Playing fetch

Some cats can be trained to play fetch with a varied degree of success (which is dependent on the cat and its mood). It is possible to get a cat to remain seated until an object is thrown. At that point, their very keen sense of sight kicks in. As long as there is at least a remote chance of locating said thrown item, the cat will run off to find it. Once retrieved, waiting or a simple call is enough for the cat to return with the item and deposit it (usually) within arm's reach.

[edit] See also

• Cat
• Animal intelligence

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Bergler, Reinhold "Man and Cat: The Benefits of Cat Ownership" Blackwell Scientific Publications (1989)
• Bradshaw, John W S "The Behaviour of the Domestic Cat" C A B International (1992)
• Chesler, Phyllis. "Maternal Influence in Learning by Observation in Kittens" Science 166 (1969): 901 - 903.
• Hobhouse, L T "Mind in Evolution" MacMillan, London (1915)
• Turner, Dennis C, and Patrick Bateson. "The Domestic Cat: The Biology of Its Behaviour" Cambridge University Press (1988)
• Miles , R C "Learning In Kittens With Manipulatory, Exploratory And Food Incentives" Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 51 (1958): 39-42
• Neville, Peter "Claws and Purrs" Sidgwick & Jackson (1992)
• Neville, Peter "Do Cats Need Shrinks" Sidgwick & Jackson (1990)
• Voith, Victoria L "You, Too, Can Teach a Cat Tricks (Examples of Shaping, Second-Order Reinforcement, and Constraints on Learning)" Modern Veterinary Practice, August 1981: 639 - 642.

[edit] External links

• Brains and Body-Size
• The Intelligence of Cats
• How Intelligent Are Cats?
• Documented Tool Use by a Cat
• The Charles Mingus Cat Training Program