Decision making and interference in the domestic cat (Felis catus)

Domestic cats (Felis catus) received a task in which an obstacle was introduced at the time they were ready to reach for 1 among 2 or 3 baited targets. The results revealed that when the initially chosen direction (i.e., before the introduction of the obstacle) and the new one were orthogonal, the cats reassessed distance, angular deviation, and visibility once they had turned around the obstacle (Experiments 1, 2, and 3). Then the cats chose a different target than the one that would have been chosen had there been no obstacle. When both the initially chosen and the new direction matched (Experiment 4), the cats kept intact their initial decision. The discussion focuses on the nature of the representational system of the cat. The discussion also emphasizes comparisons with dogs (i.e., cooperative hunters).     

Decision making and visibility in cats (Felis catus) in a progressive elimination task

When making decisions animals can rely on information stored in memory and/or on information available through perceptual processes. Under some circumstances, perceptual access to a relevant piece of information can be lost as when a prey hides under a cover. If this piece of information is critical, the animal must be able to keep it active in the working memory until the final decision is made. Species endowed with object permanence can to a certain extent overcome such a lack of perceptual access. Numerous studies have investigated object permanence in animals, but no study systematically examined the interaction when making a decision between an information directly available through perception and an information that can no longer be perceived. In the present study, domestic cats (Felis catus) were administered a progressive elimination task in which they had to visit and deplete either two visible and one hidden target (e.g., Experiments 1 and 2) or one visible and two hidden targets (e.g., Experiments 3 and 4). The cats were brought back to the starting point after each visit to any target whether that target had been previously visited or not. The results revealed that the cats searched at the visible target(s) first and at the hidden target(s) last, which was referred to as the visibility rule. The results also revealed that the position of the bowl that was distinct (e.g., the visible bowl when the two other ones were hidden and the opposite) influenced the way this cognitive rule was implemented. More specifically, when the intermediate bowl was distinct the visibility rule was readily implemented but when either the right of the left bowl was distinct the visibility was violated. That is the cats did no longer choose the visible target(s) first. The visibility rule was interpreted in terms of optimization principles, the external distinct target effect was interpreted in terms of divided attention and lateralization.     

Classification of domestic cat (Felis catus) vocalizations by naive and experienced human listeners

To test for possible functional referentiality in a common domestic cat (Felis catus) vocalization, the authors conducted 2 experiments to examine whether human participants could classify meow sounds recorded from 12 different cats in 5 behavioral contexts. In Experiment 1, participants heard singlecalls, whereas in Experiment 2, bouts of calls were presented. In both cases, classification accuracy was significantly above chance, but modestly so. Accuracy for bouts exceeded that for single calls. Overall, participants performed better in classifying individual calls if they had lived with, interacted with, and had a general affinity for cats. These results provide little evidence of referentiality suggesting instead that meows are nonspecific, somewhat negatively toned stimuli that attract attention from humans. With experience, human listeners can become more proficient at inferring positive-affect states from cat meows.     

The ontogenesis of lateralized behavior in the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus

For the first time, the development of paw preferences in the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus, is explored. Twelve cats were tested at ages 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year on a challenge requiring them to use one of their paws to retrieve food. To control for repeated testing of the same cats at different ages, the subjects' paw preferences were compared with those of cats tested just once, at 6 months (n = 11) or 1 year (n = 14) of age. Analysis revealed a significant effect of age on the distribution of cats' paw preferences. Cats were significantly more likely to be ambilateral than paw preferent at 12 weeks and at 6 months but more likely to display a lateral bias in paw use at 1 year. There was a significant positive correlation between cats' paw preferences at 6 months and at 1 year. Lateralized behavior was strongly sex related. Females had a greater preference for using their right paw; males were significantly more inclined to adopt their left. Analysis revealed no significant difference in the direction or strength of paw preferences of cats tested longitudinally or cross-sectionally at 6 months or 1 year of age. Findings indicate that cats develop paw preferences by 1 year and hint at a relative stability in preferred paw use over time. The strong sex effect observed strengthens the case for the influence of a biological mechanism in the emergence of motor asymmetry in cats.     

Identification of gender in domestic-cat faces with and without training: perceptual learning of a natural categorization task

Three experiments were conducted to determine whether human observers could identify the gender of 40 domestic cats (20 female, 20 male) depicted in individual color photographs. In experiment 1a, observers performed at chance for photographs depicting whole cats, cat heads (bodies occluded), and cat bodies (heads occluded). Experiment 1b showed that chance performance was also obtained when the photographs were full-face close-ups of the cats. Experiment 2a revealed that even with gender-identification training on 30 (15 female, 15 male) of the 40 face close-ups, observers were unable to generalize their training to reliably identify the gender of the 10 remaining test faces (5 female, 5 male). However, experiment 2b showed that gender-identification training with the 14 most accurately identified faces from experiment 1b (7 female, 7 male) was successful in raising gender identification of the 10 test faces above chance. Experiments 3a and 3b extended this facilitative effect of gender-identification training to a population of animal-care workers. The findings indicate that, with appropriate training, human observers can identify the gender of cat faces at an above-chance level. A perceptual category learning account emphasizing the on-line formation of differentiated male versus female prototypes during training is offered as an explanation of the findings.     

Basic-level category discriminations by 7- and 9-month-olds in an object examination task

This study examines 7- and 9-month-olds' ability to categorize cats as separate from dogs, and dogs as separate from cats in an object examination task. In Experiment 1, 7- and 9-month-olds (N = 30) familiarized with toy cat replicas were found to form a category of cat that included novel cats but excluded a dog and an eagle. In Experiment 2, 7- and 9-month-olds (N = 30) familiarized with toy dog replicas were found to form a category of dog that included a novel dogs and a novel cat but excluded an eagle. These results mirror those of 3- to 4-month-olds tested with visual preference methods and stand in contrast to previously reported object examination results. Analyses of the distribution of features in the exemplars used to familiarize infants suggest that, like the 3- to 4-month-olds, the 7- and 9-month-olds in these studies form categories within the task, and on the basis of feature distributions.     

Location and distance estimates by blind and sighted children

Blindfold normal, blindfold autistic and congenitally blind children made reproduction location and distance estimates of an arm movement. For each task they first experienced a standard vertical movement of a predetermined extent. In the test tasks which followed, they either reproduced the movement exactly, reproduced the end point although commencing from a different starting position, or reproduced the same distance from a different starting point. Sighted normal children and blind children performed very similarly on both the reproduction and the location task. However on distance reproduction, the blind children underestimated the longer distances more markedly than did the normals. Autistic children resembled the blind in their attempts to reproduce the longer distances. In addition they had a tendency to overshoot over short distances in all tasks.     

Visual angle as a determinant of perceived interobject distance

Two new experiments and a reanalysis of Toye’s (1986)data are used to examine the relationship between true distance and perceived distance in natural scenes. In the first experiment, 8 subjects estimated 78 interobject distances, formed by all pairs of 13 objects, while viewing the objects from a fixed position. The results showed that estimated distance is a linear function of the visual angle between objects as well as of the true distance. This relationship results in distances perpendicular to the line of sight being overestimated in relation to true distances and to distances parallel to the line of sight. These findings were confirmed by reanalysis of a comparable data set from Toye. Since changes in the visual angle can come about through changes in alignment with the line of sight, viewing distance, or interobject distance, Experiment 2 was designed to determine whether the visual angle effect was due to one of these, or whether it was an independent effect. In Experiment 2, 8 subjects estimated six interobject distances from 12 viewing positions. The results showed that visual angle predicted estimated distance independently of how the change in visual angle came about, suggesting that the greater the visual angle between objects, the more their separation is overestimated.     

驾驶员选择性注意过程中的规则图式启动效应

本研究将驾驶无意视盲范式与交通违规事件识别任务相结合, 通过两个实验分别探究任务性质(有提示、无提示)和规则图式训练(训练、未训练)对驾驶员识别交通信号和违规事件的影响。结果发现, 交通规则提示能够提高有经验的驾驶员识别交通信号的正确率(实验1); 对于新手驾驶员, 则需要结合规则图式训练才能起到相同效果(实验2)。研究表明驾驶员选择性注意过程中存在规则图式启动效应, 图式训练能够弥补新手驾驶员经验的不足。     

When Sociopolitical Events Strike Cultural Beliefs: Divergent Impact of Hurricane Katrina on African Americans' and European Americans' Endorsement of the Protestant Work Ethic

Three experiments address how people react to a sexual abuse victim compared to a nonvictim when a justification for negative evaluation is available or not available. A harm-doing victim was rated lower on expected job performance and higher on desired social distance than a harm-doing nonvictim. When subsequent harm-doing was absent, judgments of a victim and nonvictim did not differ on expected job performance or social distance. Experiment 2 replicated the results of Experiment 1 and revealed that the order in which victimization history and harm-doing information were presented had no effect. Experiment 3 showed that participants desired greater social distance from a harm-doing victim compared to a non-harm-doing victim to the extent they thought the target should have derived benefits from the childhood victimization. Implications for judgments of harm-doers—depending on whether their victimization history is known or not—are considered.     

Rudimental numerical competence in 5-day-old domestic chicks (Gallus gallus): identification of ordinal position

Numerical competencies were investigated for the 1st time in very young nonhuman animals. Chicks (Gallus gallus) learned to identify the 3rd, 4th, or 6th positions in a series of 10 identical positions (Experiment 1). Use of spatial information (i.e., distances) was ruled out in Experiment 2 (chicks generalized the reinforced response to an array of stimuli rotated by 90 degrees as compared with training) and Experiment 3 (chicks generalized their response to a series in which distances between the single positions had been manipulated). Chicks found the correct position even when both identity and distance of each position changed from trial to trial (Experiment 4). Overall, young chicks seemed to use ordinality when required to identify a target by its numerical serial position.     

Determinants of the rod and frame effect: The role of retinal size

In Experiment 1, base-out prisms were used to alter perceived size and distance to a luminous rod and frame while the retinal size remained unchanged. The rod-and-frame effect (RFE) was the same, whether the display was viewed directly or through the prisms. In Experiment 2, one large and one small rod-and-frame display were placed at distances such that they produced identical retinal angles. This was replicated at three different sets of distances. Perceived size and distance of the large and small frame of identical retinal angle interacted with the observation distance, such that at near distances the large frame was perceived as larger and farther than the small frame while, at far distances, both types of estimates converged to a constant value. In contrast, the RFE was identical for the large and small frames matched in retinal angle, but diminished with distance. In both experiments, the RFE varied precisely with variation in retinal angle. Implications of the role of retinal angle in the RFE and for the interpretation of individual differences were discussed.     

Biases towards internal features in infants' reasoning about objects

This paper reports the results of two sets of studies demonstrating 14-month-olds' tendency to associate an object's behavior with internal, rather than external features. In Experiment 1 infants were familiarized to two animated cats that each exhibited a different style of self-generated motion. Infants then saw a novel individual that had an internal feature (stomach color) similar to one cat, but an external feature (hat color) similar to the other. Infants looked reliably longer when the individual's motion was congruent with the hat than when it was congruent with the stomach. Using a converging method involving object choice, Experiment 2 found that infants prioritized the internal feature over the external feature only when the object's behavior was self-generated. In the absence of self-generated behaviors, however, infants did not show a preference towards the internal feature.     

Accurate motion-produced distance and direction under systematically distorted perception

Abstract:  We report the visually directed actions of soccer players. After perceiving the location of a target on their left side at the starting point and traveling toward the ball without seeing the target, the players could kick the ball accurately (Experiment 2). In contrast, if they were verbally asked the direction of the target in a similar situation, the perceived direction was systematically distorted (Experiment 3). Our major concern in explaining the distorted perception was whether the egocentric distance before locomotion was perceived accurately or not, and whether the updating of the target location during locomotion was accurate or not. Combining these two possibilities, there should be four hypotheses, each of which assumes either: (1) accurate egocentric distance and accurate updating, (2) inaccurate egocentric distance and accurate updating, (3) accurate egocentric distance and inaccurate updating, or (4) inaccurate egocentric distance and inaccurate updating. Based on these hypotheses, we conducted four simulations, which revealed that the combination of the perception of the accurate egocentric distance and the distorted updating that substituted the constant function for the sine function produced not only a good r ², but also three kinds of interactions obtained in Experiment 3. Why did the players, based on their distorted perception, perform accurately? We would like to suggest that through perceptual learning they might acquire a perceptual-motor relation as the inverse function of the physical-perceptual relation.     

视网膜离心率影响空间注意梯度分布

采用同步判断(Simultaneous judgment, SJ)的研究范式探讨空间注意梯度是否受到视网膜离心率的影响。实验中给被试呈现两个目标刺激, 调节它们的呈现距离和间隔时间, 让被试进行不限时的同步判断, 计算出各种距离上的主观等同点(Point of Subjective Simultaneous, PSS)变化情况。实验中对比了注视点和注意点重合与分离的两种状态。其中注视点和注意点分离的状态是指使用反向掩蔽后的线索刺激将注意点内隐地引导到外周。通过控制似动等影响因素, 发现在注意点和注视点分离的状态下存在距离效应—— 也就是随着距离的增长主观等同点变化越大, 但是在重合的状态下则没有。结果表明分离状态下存在传统意义上的注意梯度效应, 而重合时, 注意易化梯度受到一个抑制梯度的影响。这说明, 注意梯度分布受到视网膜离心率的影响, 而影响方式符合注意点为中心的易化梯度场和注视点为中心的抑制梯度场的双梯度场理论。     

On-Line Updating of Spatial Information Druing Locomotion Without Vision

Two experiments are reported in which the control of locomotion without vision was investigated. In Experiment 1, subjects (N = 10) made similar, although less functional, locomotor adjustments when walking without vision to a target than they did when walking with vision. That result suggests that while walking without vision, the subjects updated their positions on-line with respect to a representation of the target rather than operating from a preformulated action plan. In Experiment 2, there was a significant weakening and loss of functionality of the locomotor adjustments when subjects (N = 10) had to walk without vision the correct distance to the target but in a direction opposite to its true location, as compared with when they walked without vision directly to the target. That finding suggests that the subjects were nonvisually updating their positions not with respect to an abstract representation of the target's distance but with respect to a representation of its relative location within the task environment.     

The moon illusion: I. How high is the sky?

The most common explanations of the moon illusion assume that the moon is seen at a specific distance in the sky, which is perceived as a definite surface. A decrease in the apparent distance to the sky with increasing elevation presumably leads to a corresponding decrease in apparent size. In Experiment 1 observers (N = 24) gave magnitude estimates of the distance to the night sky at different elevations. The results did not support the flattened-dome hypothesis. In Experiment 2 observers (N = 20) gave magnitude estimates of the distance to the sky at points around a 360 degrees circle just above the horizon. The results were consistent with those of Experiment 1, and in addition, estimates were highly correlated with the physical distances of buildings at the horizon. In a third, control experiment, observers (N = 20) gave magnitude estimates of the distances of buildings at the horizon. A power function fit the relation between estimated and physical distance (exponent = 1.17) as well as the relation between estimates of the sky points above the buildings (Experiment 2) and estimates of building distances (exponent = .46). Taken together, the results disconfirm all theories that attribute the moon illusion to a "sky illusion" of the sort exemplified by the flattened-dome hypothesis.