1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,560 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. It's common knowledge that 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: if an empty box of any size is left unattended 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: and a cat finds it, that cat will sit inside 5 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: of it. Tiny cats and large boxes, large cats and 6 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,599 Speaker 1: tiny boxes. It doesn't matter, as the saying goes, if 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: I fits, I sits, and it doesn't seem to even 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,160 Speaker 1: have to be a box. It turns out that any 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: rectangle will do. A piece of paper, a laptop, of 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,560 Speaker 1: anything rectangular seems to light up that box sitting instinct 11 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: in house cats. In the Twitter hashtag cat square highlighted 12 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: this cat quirk. I'm merely taping an empty square on 13 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: the floor was enough to lower a cat to sit 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: or lie down inside of it. A couple of years later, 15 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: this hashtag would help animal psychology researcher Gabriella Smith of 16 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: Hunter College, City, University of New York a construct an 17 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: experiment to gauge cat cognition. In April one, the journal 18 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 1: Applied Animal Behavior Science published her research entitled if I 19 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: fits I Sits? A Citizen science investigation into illusory contour 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: susceptibility in domestic cats. The Smith had seen hashtag cats 21 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: square on Twitter and knew that cats would sit inside 22 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: a two D square made of tape, not just inside 23 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: a three D box. For the article of this episode 24 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: is based on how stuff Work. Spoke with Smith, she said, so, 25 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: then the question became does this square actually have to 26 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: be there? When we ask what is this animal seeing? 27 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: People think of using dogs because they're so easily trained, 28 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: But cats are the perfect candidate because we already know 29 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: they will sit in a two D square. Not only 30 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: to cats not have to be trained to do this, 31 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: they don't even have to come into a lab to 32 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: do it. A cat owners could easily take shapes to 33 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,919 Speaker 1: the floor and record their cat's reactions. Thus, the first 34 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: cat cognition experiment to use citizen scientists was born. And 35 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: what better timing than during the COVID nineteen pandemic. Smith 36 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: put out the call for volunteers via Twitter in June 37 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: of Much of the world was on lockdown to some degree, 38 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: and cat owners were looking for something, anything, really to 39 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: do in their homes. Plus, Smith notes cats performed best 40 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: at home in the lab, they wouldn't behave naturally. She 41 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: designed the experiment so that the humans could gather cat 42 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: data over six days. Participants were given templates to print out, 43 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: a square to tape to the floor, and a set 44 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: of four pac mans, as Smith calls them, that could 45 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 1: make an illusory square. These pac man's are circles that 46 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: each have a ninety degree wedge cut out, But when 47 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 1: you arrange them at the corners of an imaginary square, 48 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: with the empty wedges or pac man mouths pointed inward, 49 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 1: they formed the four corners of the imaginary square. Scientifically, 50 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: this is called a kanitsa square, which means that pieces 51 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: of an image are constructing a complete image in our brains. 52 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: Our minds see an image in this case of a 53 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 1: square in the negative space, our eyes connect the dots. 54 00:03:21,440 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: If you face the pac man mouths away from each other, 55 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: we don't perceive any significant shape. But would cats see 56 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: the same things? Smith went into the experiment with frankly 57 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: low expectations and an open mind that she was truly 58 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: curious to know the answer to her question, but will 59 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: cats sit in the square that isn't really there? She 60 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: had no preconceived ideas what the cats might choose to do. 61 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: She says that this was helpful in designing the experiment, 62 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: as her biases for one shape or another weren't in play. 63 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: She said, I was lucky I had any participants at all, 64 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: given how cats are. She gathered data over the summer 65 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: of with participant humans sending in five minute videos of 66 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: the shapes on the floor. If the cat positioned its 67 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: body within any of the shapes for at least three seconds, 68 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: it counted as a data point. Of course, cats are cats. 69 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: Sometimes the cat would saunter through the video without sitting 70 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: at all. A Smith said, I watched a lot of 71 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: empty videos as she recruited five DRED participants, and thirty 72 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: were able to complete the entire six day sequence of tests. 73 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: Of those, nine cats chose at least one of the 74 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,799 Speaker 1: shapes by sitting inside of it with all four feet 75 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: for at least three seconds. Though the data set is small, 76 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: cats did indeed choose the kanitsa square illusion as often 77 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: as they chose the complete square that was taped on 78 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,520 Speaker 1: the floor. They chose both of these more often than 79 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: the non shape made by the pac man's that we're 80 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: facing away from each other a while. This was Smith's 81 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: first time using citizen scientists to gather data. She since 82 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 1: been involved in another half dozen citizen science studies with 83 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: dogs in the Animal Behavior in Conservation program at Hunter College. 84 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: She notes that you don't have to have the cleverest 85 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: animal in the world to participate in projects like this. 86 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: You just have to follow the instructions then let your 87 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,039 Speaker 1: pet do its thing or not. It's all data science. 88 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: This research might seem pretty low stakes, but it offers 89 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: new insight into animal cognition and psychology. We now know 90 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: that cats can connect the dots and see a square 91 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: that isn't there. It's also a springboard for more potential research. 92 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: Smith said, we see videos from zoos of large cats 93 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: sitting in boxes, which makes sense because it's safe, like 94 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 1: a cave or den, But it begs the question, what 95 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: a wildcat sit in the outline of a square or 96 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: a kinitz As square that isn't a square at all. 97 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: This is the fun part of science, asking questions and 98 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: devising ways to learn the answers, and then letting those 99 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: answers inspire new questions. Today's episode is based on the 100 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: article I five Fit si sits The Science behind Cats 101 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: Sitting in Squares on House to works dot com, written 102 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: by Kristen hall Geisler. The brain Stuff is production of 103 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com, 104 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my 105 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 106 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.