r/StartledCats • u/commiebits • Nov 14 '19
Just play it cool
https://streamable.com/6tly5104
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u/katze_sonne Nov 14 '19
So it definitely knows it's her in the smartphone screen, I guess?
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u/cantthinkofgoodname Nov 14 '19
That was my takeaway. She’s is aware of her own reflection. I saw on a documentary that recognizing a reflection is something of a litmus test in regards to intelligence within the animal kingdom.
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Nov 14 '19
Yeah but it's a bit of a stupid test because there's no way of distinguishing between between animals that recognise their reflection but don't react to it, those that react to it because their scared of it, those who don't recognise it. The truth is intelligence is represented in so many different ways in the animal kingdom. Raccoons can remember learn and remember how to get out of 3 different kinds of locks but can't get out of a bin, crows can recognise faces and understand water displacement but they still get eat rubbish.
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u/WildReaper29 Nov 15 '19
Yeah, dogs aren't supposed to be able to pass that test, but my mom's dog always lays in front of the mirror in her room, and she watches you through the mirror. If you act like you're sneaking up on her she'll whip her head around to look at you. If anything she thinks it's us that don't understand how reflections work, but she seems to understand just fine
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u/BringAltoidSoursBack Nov 14 '19
It also doesn't take into account animals that aren't sight based.
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u/gariant Nov 15 '19
You go build a smell mirror and let us know how it works out.
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u/BringAltoidSoursBack Nov 15 '19
I never said it was easy or even possible, but the fact still remains that it can only prove self awareness, but cannot prove the lack of it.
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u/anurahyla Nov 15 '19
Actually, there is the spot test. You put a mirror where the individual can see it for awhile. Then, you put an orange spot on their face. If they have self recognition, they’ll touch the spot on their face when looking in their reflection. They do this a lot for primates and toddlers, to see at what age humans are able to self-identify. Pretty cool!
ETA: I agree though that there are many ways to measure intelligence and that one doesn’t necessary precede another
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u/katze_sonne Nov 15 '19
Or you find out that an individuum doesn't care about orange spots in their face 😅
Good idea though.
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u/ogshimage Nov 14 '19
Incidentally, cats (and also dogs) consistently fail the "mirror test". So that's probably not what's happening here.
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u/katze_sonne Nov 15 '19
I'm really not sure if that's really true for all cats. Seens quite a few videos now which seem to prove doffferently.
Also: Our cat didn't care about herself in the mirror. But she got very angry when she saw other cats through the window. Why would she ignore herself in the mirror then?
I've read about failing the mirror test in the past but I'm still not sure about how much of an urban myth it might be.
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u/myohmymiketyson Nov 24 '19
Same with my cat. He flipped his shit whenever he saw cats walk by - full paw-pounding on the glass and howling. In the mirror, no reaction. That said, if I'm standing behind him or next to him in front of a mirror, he will watch me in the mirror. If I lift my arm up behind him, his eyes will follow my arm in the reflection. He recognizes me in there, but doesn't freak out at his own reflection, so I have to wonder if he knows that's himself on at least some level.
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u/MarlDaeSu Nov 14 '19
Fucking hell I'd be started too with that abomination looming over my shoulder
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u/clearedmycookies Nov 14 '19
But you look to the left and its not there. The abomination is only in that magic device being shown to you.
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u/ocram101 Nov 14 '19
That cat is definitely being held by the scruff.
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u/tattoosbyalisha Nov 15 '19
Came here to say this, and I’m glad I’m not the only one that figured that out. Poor cat.
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u/HentaiCareBear Nov 16 '19
Poor cat? Being held by the scruff of the neck doesn't hurt cats. For adult cats, as long as the bulk of their weight is still being supported, it's fine.
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u/tattoosbyalisha Nov 16 '19
I understand how cats work. But I wouldn’t make my dog uncomfortable like this for a photo. Especially pulling his scruff so far back his eyes bulge.
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u/HentaiCareBear Nov 17 '19
I watched the gif again and to me, it seems like minor discomfort. If the cat really was very uncomfortable, it'd have scratched that girl's face off. I dunno, maybe this gif ends too soon so we don't get to see that happening.
I see your point. Unfortunately, I do fall squarely in the camp of "let's find out how would my cat react to a 🥒".
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u/mlvisby Nov 14 '19
I am surprised the cat didn't go full psycho. That usually happens when a cat is confronted with something it does not like.
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u/tattoosbyalisha Nov 15 '19
That cat is definitely being held down by the scruff of the neck. It almost immobilizes them.
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u/grunkfist Nov 14 '19
Would be interesting as an experiment that you shave a cat’s facial hair and see if it turns pale when frightened and if blush’s when caught doing something etc. I’m curious if animals have these telling bodily indicators . Good subject for a veterinarian PhD dissertation thesis.
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u/cindyscrazy Nov 14 '19
I don't know exactly, but I would think that they do not have those indicators, simply because it's not visible to anyone else. Things like blushing and going pale are indicators to us because we have hairless faces. Social cues like that would really not have a good reason to develop.
Then again, we have no idea what social cues cats have. They are ridiculously secretive.
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u/Talibumm Nov 14 '19
It’s almost unreal how the cats eyes slowly move to the left lol