Can Cats Solve Puzzles?
Can Cats Solve Puzzles?
Cats, to those of us who appreciate their company, are fascinating creatures, with their infinite curiosity and playfulness. [Makers Muse] has a pair of half-grown-up kittens, and set out to provid…
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Yes, but not very well. I am mildly irritated that one of the founding studies of experimental psychology is so little known. It takes cats quite a bit of time to figure out how to simply pull on a loop or step on a treadle in order to escape confinement and get fed.
Thorndike's work with cats predates Skinner's work with rats by decades. https://youtube.com/watch?v=hhNxeYYyCSQ
In my experience (which is anecdotal at best), cats can express wildly different levels of intelligence between even littermates, and especially between people interacting with them. Just because you failed to negotiate with them doesn't mean they're incapable of doing what you want them to.
Psychology is notoriously difficult to draw conclusions from because it's so hard to isolate the variables. It's cool to learn some less mainstream science though!