Scientists have found that striped dogs are not inferior to dogs on many intelligence tests.
For a long time, it was believed that dogs are smarter than cats. Scientists have even created a theory that substantiates this thesis. Its essence is that a single cat is a much more effective hunter than a wolf and even more so its descendant - a dog. In other words, it is easier for a cat to catch a mouse than for a dog to catch a hare. And it's not about the size, the lynx will also cope with the hare much faster than the watchdog. The dogs have to compensate for their hunting mediocrity by hunting in a pack, where it is necessary to distribute roles and act in concert. Therefore, dogs have developed a high social intelligence. And to individualistic cats it is unnecessary - they feed themselves well anyway. Therefore, around the world, dog intelligence is studied by about 12 scientific laboratories, and only the clown Kuklachev was interested in the mental abilities of cats. Attempts to conduct cognitive experiments with cats invariably ended in failure: the striped ones either ignored the research ventures of scientists, or even hid under the sofa. This was regarded as a manifestation of low mental abilities. Gradually, the version about the intellectual superiority of dogs over cats acquired the status of an axiom that does not require proof.
Cat revolution
However, in the last decade in science there have been events that have been dubbed the "cat revolution". First, neurophysiologists have received amazing data. Fans of canine intelligence have long trumped the fact that watchdogs have more brain weight relative to their bodies than cats. However, Ursula Dicke from the Institute for Brain Research, University of Bremen (Germany) found that this lag is compensated for by a higher density of "packing" of neurons in the cerebral cortex (namely, it is responsible for higher nervous activity). Therefore, a cat with a brain weight of 25 grams has almost twice as many cortical neurons (300 million versus 160 million) as a dog with a brain weight of 75 grams. Another researcher, Francis Dore of Laval University (Canada), found that Murziks have much better short-term memory than dogs. This was discovered in a simple experiment. The animals were shown tasty food, then they hid it and distracted the pets with something. The cats remembered about the "stash" for 16 hours, and the dogs forgot after 5 minutes!
It's just that the striped ones don't like to obey …
Based on this data, scientists returned to the study of feline intelligence, and the most impressive success was achieved by Kristyn Vitale of the University of Oregon and her colleagues. They managed to break down the cold wall of misunderstanding that separated scientists and striped heroes. It was found that with the correct preparation of the experiment (cats had to be kept on a diet or in isolation for a long time), cats, at least, are not inferior to dogs.
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For example, contrary to the popular belief that people are only interested in leopards as food suppliers, it turned out that cats value friendship with the owner over food. The experiment looked like this: 19 cats took turns to “meditate” for 2.5 hours in an empty room, then let out and observed what activities would be his priority. And the striped one was offered the following choice: eat a delicious treat, have fun with a toy, sniff a tempting-smelling bait, or purr with his master. So half of the cats preferred to first of all communicate with a person, food was in the background. Moreover, most of the experiment time - 65% of the tailed beasts rubbed next to the owner.
You can repeat Christine's other experiment at home: take two bowls, turn them upside down, put a treat under one of them, and then invite your "king of beasts" (he should not see how they hide the treat). Now, while pointing at the bowl of treats, try to persuade the cat to come to it. If the cat understands what you want from him and fulfilled the request - he is a genius! Because it is incredibly difficult for animals to understand the intention of another living creature. It used to be thought that only dogs and primates could perform this test correctly, but cats could not. But Kristin Vitali believes that the cats understood everything perfectly, and looked "slow-witted" because they do not like to obey.
Perhaps they fear that if people find out about their abilities, they will be forced to work like dogs. According to the researcher, cats may well replace dogs in search work. Cats are able to find drugs in an intruder's baggage, find living people under rubble, or recognize human cancer by smell. It is only necessary to develop methods of training. Christine Vitali and her co-authors believe that the “doggy” approach does not work here. For moors, the main motivation is not a treat at all, but stroking and praise from the owner.
How to measure the intelligence of a tailed pet.
YAROSLAV KOROBATOV
