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Cats "Exploit" Humans By Purring
An anonymous reader notes a BBC report on research recently published in the journal Current Biology, indicating that cats manipulate humans by adding a baby-like cry to their purring. "Cat owners may have suspected as much, but it seems our feline friends have found a way to manipulate us humans. Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered that cats use a 'soliciting purr' to overpower their owners and garner attention and food. Unlike regular purring, this sound incorporates a 'cry,' with a similar frequency to a human baby's. The team said cats have 'tapped into' a human bias — producing a sound that humans find very difficult to ignore."
was the one who tagged this on drugs? hardware? power?
Assuming that the cats are in fact intelligent creatures, it would make sense that they have learned this behavior. Feral cats do not exhibit this behavior, so it is most likely learned or self-developed.
However, it could also be that the constant exposure to humans and the direct selection of cats which humans like the most by the owners has led to a selection bias for cats with this behavior.
I find it hard to believe that this is somehow one of those hokey "100th monkey" behaviors, but I also find it extremely interesting that this behavior is widespread.
I seem to be 95% immune to my cats when they pull tricks like that. My cats know damn well that I'll feed them before going to bed. It can happen anywhere between coming home and right before actually going to bed.
My cats are persistent, make no mistake, and my wife can be very annoyed with them, but I usually wait until I happen to feel like feeding them. So if their mewling is comparable to a baby's cry I shudder to think what kind of dad I'd make ;).
I should mention, though, that they have dry food available at any time so it's not like they're hungry when I feed them. It is actually a very interesting way to learn to not give in to annoying behaviour.
Don't forget that cats self-domesticated so the the evolution of this kind of behaviour would have been baised from the begining.
are cats poised to take over the world? Or is the exploitation thing only limited to catfood?
i noticed years ago my cat used to put on this special voice that seemed to elicit some kind of unconscious reaction in me. second time around at cat owning the little wench has tried it once or twice but i'm immune to it, the first cat overdid it and it stopped working for him.
when i first read this article i thought it was talking about the 'chirping' that cats do when they are extra happy purring, or maybe something a female cat a friend of mine has does a lot, these quiet, semi-pur semi-miao chirpy noises.
cats are more intelligent than many of their owners, and the fact that the cats are able to manipulate their owners just proves it. my cat doesn't manipulate me though. i eventually see through her little ploys. except the one that makes me like having her around of course.
You know i think its more a subtle effect...not some mind controlling thing ^^ I mean, pretty much everyone thinks that cats are cute...right ?
I have never in my whole life experienced a purr that had ANY recognizable component of "baby cry" in it.
It's not said that it sounds like a baby cry but only that it's on the same frequency.
From another report from LiveScience, I gather that it would be most recognizable to you as being called just a "baby cry," but with a subtle sound the same as cats make when purring mixed in, rather than as purring with a crying sound, but the language is utterly ambiguous and it seems hard to distinguish when they mean meowing, purring, or whatever.
Cats that make the most attractive noise get fed most. Have the most offspring. Eventually dominate. Given what we've done to dogs by selective breeding in just a thousand years or so, this is a simple and believable scenario. Selecting cats for their purr is no more extraordinary than, say, the difference we've created between a spaniel and a Mexican Hairless.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
What, in the name of Zeus's butt-hole, does this have to do with hardware?
science, artificialselection, hardware, power, story
hardly, no, no, no, a bad one
New?
The cats were worshiped as gods in ancient Egypt. They never STOPPED being our overlords.
-=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
At least they're cute and fluffy, compared to the average politician I'd call that a step in the right direction.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
everything.
you mean this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q
Steve -- If you have to call it a system, you don't know what it is.
When a dog looks at you it thinks "What can I do for you master"
When a cat looks at you it thinks "If I had hands I could open my own cans, and you'd be dead"
Agree.
The BBC report that I heard on the radio this morning didn't suggest that the "soliciting purr" sounded recognizably like a baby's cry - but if you stick a recording of it through a spectrum analyzer you find that it has some of the same frequency components as a baby cry embedded in it. So the sound puts humans on edge and plays on their subconscious in such a way that they want to satisfy the cat and make it stop.
In fact, pretty much any animal - even my goldfish, can be conditioned to respond to a food stimulus - they know what precedes them being fed and act accordingly.
The only surprising thing about this is that the cats haven't got their owners better trained in all this time.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Stuff with brains can learn.
+= E
Over 50 replies and nobody resorted to LOLcats and the associated mangling of the English language.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Never get a cat.
I visit a area of Korea about 3-4 times a month that has a very high feral cat population. These cats here make almost a perfect immiation of a baby's cry. I don't mean it's on the same frequency or anything, but it actually sounds like it. More than once I was fooled into thinking it was an actual baby.
I asked a few of the older locals and they told me they always sounded like it, while the newer locals tell me they still get suprised at night (they sometimes lurk the apartments).
Doesn't suprise me. I had a cat that had recognizable sounds when being with his kitten or when asking us for food. You can even swear it tries to spell my name. I'm pretty sure they will dominate the world one day.
... cats wouldn't be purring at all.
What?
It's not brushing you up for food, it's wiping it's arse. Now who's the sheep?
Self domesticated!? Surely by definition domestication is an externally enforced process, one in which the powerful enforces/trains a useful/preferable mode of behavior over the weak. To Self-domesticate would simply mean to evolve, to have certain traits preserved due to their being conducive to cohabitation with humans.
I wonder if this is related to an odd cat vocalization I've seen. At least three (non-overlapping) cats I've had over the years, make a vocalization (kind of a murrmurrmurr half-meow with their mouths closed) when they're in a happy or friendly mood.
I've never heard other cats make this sound, so I was wondering if there was something I was doing in their upbringing to bring it out (some sound I was making they were trying to imitate, or picking up on the fact that the sound gets them attention?
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
A sheep does not climb the bed backboard so it can jump on you when the alarm goes off. Sheep brains lack a convoluted surface; cats do not. -- When Czars are outlawed, only outlaws will have Czars.
Women do the exploit very much better. Why not cats?
My mothers cat was a companion to her beyond something on 4 legs that just wanted food.
Highlighted by the animal's actions previous to my mother suddenly passing away. For several weeks the cat would never leave her side, as she became ill. Then mom passed away suddenly in her sleep. The autopsy revealed a ruptured cyst around a cancerous growth on the large intestine. For a couple weeks previous to her death, she had complained the cat was licking the area just under her ribcage. The doctors were confused as to the raw area of skin on her belly area. The cat knew, and I believe was an effort to heal my mother the only way a cat knows how.
In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
I always suspected that they did. In fact, even rabbits and dogs do that kinda stuff. Not exactly voice modulation, but, you know, making that cute round face, running up to you and licking your legs whenever you grab something to eat from the kitchen. I seriously doubt the fact, however, that cats specifically found out what frequency our babies cry at, and then copied/used that frequency in their cries for food. It could be a coincidence.
RutSum.com
Cats are the only "domesticated" animal that can go from domesticated to feral and back at will.
You can release your house cat into the wild and (assuming they do not get eaten by a predator) they will survive just fine. You can also take a feral cat and domesticate it in very short order.
theRegister has this story and a link, http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/cmvcr/Domestic%20cats.html. I have two female Siamese, Tinkerbell has this purr behavior and Ariel doesn't yet they are litter mates. Ariel manipulates me in other ways that Tinkerbell doesn't. They do seem to put an effort into the manipulation.
E.L. Thorndike's experiments investigating learning were conducted using cats and while B.F. Skinner may have used rats more than cats, he too used cats in his studies of learning.
If you want to study an animal's intelligence / learning capabilities / reasoning capabilities you just have to be smart enough to construct the experiment properly.
If you're not familiar with those experiments (and your post suggests you are not), E.L. Thorndike studied cats learning to escape from boxes to get food. Pretty good motivators for cats (unless it's in need of "boxhab").
Not too dissimilar from arguments over whether men or women are smarter -- it is key to control for equally-valued motivators when assessing that :-)
If you want to see what domesticated looks like, look at dogs, or horses. Domesticated dogs and horses take their instructions from human masters. Cats, as a rule, don't.
If you want to see what non-domesticated looks like, have a feral cat in your house for an hour or two. Or a feral dog.
If you and your house survive, congratulations. Cats ARE, in fact, domesticated animals, as are dogs- because they have early and often human contact. If kittens (or puppies) are not handled frequently once they get beyond a certain stage, they won't recognize or trust humans.
Please help metamoderate.
cats have not tapped into anything at any time. it was already their normal attitude. cats psychologically see humans as their mothers. both men, and women alike. it doesnt matter. therefore they do all stuff they do to their mothers, to their human companions. no surprise they also make that sound.
to 'tap' into such a thing would require a cat to observe a baby, then imitate him/her. yet, how many cats that were in the research have observed a baby crying ? how many cats were raised with a baby ?
this thing has to be just another instinctive behaviour cats do to their mothers at early age. i wonder why this schmuck didnt research whether baby cats also do that to mother cats.
Read radical news here
to a cat, human owner is a mother. they exhibit all behavior they do to their mothers to their human owners.
Read radical news here
If you are spending this much time and energy owning, emoting, or analyzing a canine or feline instead of using all that wasted emotional energy on an actual human being, you are the problem.
I'm a satanic clam.
I hope this was in the "Related work" section...
Yes, cats are manipulative. In fact, when cats purr, it means they are premeditating nefarious machinations with intent to destroy not only you, BUT ALL MANKIND!!1!
Get a grip people.
SEO Copywriter. Just Say ON
We could possibly call this pussy power....
I have never observed our two cats (they are siblings) meowing to each other; But the male (Panther) usually is _not_ afraid to utter sound when he wants to be let out / in, or needs some attention - food that is.
The female (Tiger) usually just inserts her claws into my toes when I'm sleeping... and get a very quick response.
The cats are ~14 months old now, and I have submitted my will to their wants... They own me :-)
-
Base!
so this purring doesn't work on me except to get me to toss em at the wall.
Mod me up/Mod me down: I wont frown as I've no crown
was the one who tagged this on drugs? hardware? power?
It's because the cats are drilling. (watch from about 1:24)
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
getting aggrevated about cats littering in your garden, [...] You do realize that garden soil is full of dead bugs and excrements, composted plants, and that you will get your hands dirty when gardening anyway?
Cat excrement and urine is packed full of ammonia, which can kill a lot of flowers sensitive to soil PH (especially since cats tend to use the same spot many times). For avid gardeners who spend hours each day, a cat's 30 second midnight visit can ruin lots of effort.
You don't have to think of it as 'exploiting' a human, like pushing a button. They may simply really -be- happy. Or the opposite, they could be upset. Some cats may do this just to manipulate. But there as many different characters among cats as there are cats. Just like with dogs and humans. Even if it's a subtle difference or barely noticeable without years of knowing one another.
Leopard cub
Interestingly enough, that is my house, except I'm the one with the cat. My wife often complains that I pay more attention to the cat.
I'm so tempted to tell her that if she were cute and cuddly I'd pay more attention to her. That, and the cat doesn't mind when I pet her.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
"... this sound incorporates a 'cry,' with a similar frequency to a human baby's..."
Seems pretty clear to me.
How are you Gentleman?
All your base are belong to us
you are on the way to destruction
-CATS
Dogs have masters, Cats have servants.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
You seem to know nothing of cats. They don't rub to ask for food. They rub to mark territory (you) or family (your mother in law and your spouse). The difference in rubs: side of the mouth rub for territory, forehead bump/rub for family.
I dunno. We might also get Jessica Alba in heat every three months. This could work to our advantage...
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. - Neitzsche
theory of mind.
For them to manipulate us, they've got to have some understanding of those things. I know my smarter cats do, and they make for great companions because of that.
Blogging because I can...
Sometimes cats view people as other cats.
I saw a special once where a bunch of female cats on a farm developed a community. They would feed each others kittens and arrange patrols to keep aggressive males away from the young. It was communal. They were a band of mothers doing a community job.
And we have one cat here who decided same thing. We have three cats, two from a rescue shelter that were fixed as kittens, and one we found in our backyard pregnant. The cat that went through motherhood has mothering instincts, the other two do not.
Two years ago my wife got pregnant.
The mother cat knew exactly what was up, the other two did not. She would sit on her belly off to the side of the bulge and purr beside the child which would calm him down and make him sleep. She became very gingerly and delicate towards my wife. The other two didn't change their behavior - they'd step on my wife's belly and had no clue they were disturbing a baby.
On the day the kid was born I stopped back from the hospital to feed the cats. I'm sure to a cat's senses I reeked of blood and birth. Mother cat was staring at me wild eyed with suspicion, taut as a bow string. I had never seen her so tense. I spoke to her in reassuring tones and let her smell my hands where I was holding the baby. As soon as she smelled "the baby is ok and dad here didn't hurt him" she took off like a rocket and ran laps around our house. She's very fat and I had honestly never seen her run before. The cat was celebrating. I know that seems unlikely and the sort of anthropomorphizing that pet owners often times overdo - but I swear...she was celebrating! She ran a few laps around the house, jumped on one of the other cats and went for a tumble, then started loving all over me. She knew. She is lethargic otherwise. A burst of energy from this cat is completely out of character. She knew.
When the kid got home she "helped". You get a lot of visitors from people you don't see very often with a newborn in the house. Soon as one would show up, she would position herself near the baby, and *watch* the guest. Her intent was clear. "Harm that kid, do anything I don't like and I'll shred your face" It was the same pose and watchfulness she would do when her kittens were around (which we took to a no-kill shelter eventually - the same one we got our other two worthless cats from).
And the cat would praise me for being a good parent. Male cats are more of a danger to kittens than a benefit. It seemed at first she was worried it was the same with people. Any time she'd see me being good to the kid (feeding/playing/whatever) she would make it a point to come up to me and love on me. Purr louder than a lawnmower and rub on my legs. She is a very vocal proponent of good parenting. Soon as I set the kid down she'd stop. Pick him back up, she's on again.
But as for our other two cats - you're right. They definitely view us as parents, not equals. They will do that "kneading" thing with their front paws cats do when they sit on our laps. That's something kittens do to get more milk out of their mother. It's a baby reflex and they do it with us. But mom cat does not - she views us as fellow parents in the pack. So your observation is true if you have cats that have never been through parenthood, but occasionally that's not the case. YMMV though, of course. Cats are definitely unique individuals.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
I have one cat that plays fetch with itself.
Give her a hi-bounce ball, the little elastic balls that you get for pocket change out of vending machines at the store. She'll pick it up and carry it to the top of the stairs. Then swat it and watch it bounce down the stairs. Soon as it gets to the bottom she'll haul ass and pounce on it. Carry it back to the top and repeat.
First time I caught her doing it I was on my computer around 1 am. I kept hearing *boomp*..*boomp*...*boomp boompboomp*...boomp... I couldn't figure out what the hell I was hearing. It was the cat bouncing the ball down the wooden stairs to the basement.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
Come on - we partnered with dogs 70k years ago or so, and what happened? We sat around, scratched/licked our private parts, hunted (a little), and hung out and told stories.
Then, maybe 12k-20k years ago, cats domesticated us, and the next thing you know, we're doing agriculture, and building civilization... so that they could live in the manner in which they intended to become accustomed.
It's all their fault...
mark
--
The truth will out: someone got it at last:
Dogs have masters; cats have staff.
This is why I normally use and recommend preventive kicking with cats, lest they hypnotize you with their little cute purrrrrrrrs...
To which my response is always a strong shove away. I am no cat's property or territory.
Owners may have suspected as much, but it seems our own human babies have found ways to manipulate their owners. Researchers have discovered that human babies use crying, begging, laughing, acting cute and sad eyes in order to overpower their owners and garner attention and food.
-- Knowledge shared is power lost. -- Aleister Crowley
More to the point...
Say a cat jumps on a table and you punish the cat for jumping on the table. Does this deter the cat from jumping on the table? Probably not because the cat is likely to misinterpret what the punishment was for. Sometimes the cat thinks that it is a no-no to be CAUGHT jumping on the table. Jumping on the table is fine, just don't be caught doing so.
I have never fed it, I simply push it away (Gently, my mother in law seems to be fond of it) but after many years of being pushed away it still tries. It has the learning power of a sheep.
Oh, it learns. Cats know who doesn't like them, and take pleasure in annoying them.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
I've read a little bit about this and I have a theory that (similar to cats) dogs act in a why that could be perceived as caring or love for their owner but are really trying to give the impression to their owner that they are only doing that because whenever they cuddle up to their owner or roll over to be petted that it somehow increases the chances that there will be food in the bowl in the morning and evening.
Purring! Of course! And all this time I thought my cat had wicked gas! Boy do I feel silly.
Are you sure it's the cat copying the baby, or is it the baby copyoing the cat?
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
You seem to be referring to Cat on "Red Dwarf"?
My trick has been to lay small patches of chicken wire between the plants. Cats hate to step on it and it is easy enough to pick up and move out of the way as needed. Not ideal, but I don't think banning cat ownership is workable...
I have. There's a neighbor's cat that every now and then makes me look out the window and think "who left a baby outside? Oh, it's just that cat again."
But I haven't heard that in a while. Oh well, maybe a coyote had a nice dinner. Cats don't last around here.
thegodmovie.com - watch it
I, for one, welcome our new pussy overlords... oh wait...
I'd like to remind them that as a trusted engineer, I can be helpful in using can openers to open tasty cat food items.
My girlfriend can produce a high-pitched meow that sounds rather kittenish. It's like a harpoon in her cat's brain; he has no choice to come over and investigate, regardless of where he was and what he was doing.
His brain is also kind of like an etch-a-sketch. If he's in a bad mood you can shake his head vigorously and he forgets what was going on.
Entropy gets everyone.
Depending on the situation, this might be indicative of another cat behavior I've seen a lot: When a cat is in a room with a bunch of people it isn't very familiar with, it tends to go to the one who doesn't like cats. What it's really doing is going to the person who scares it the least, because all these strange people keep making noises at it and trying to paw at it, whereas only one person doesn't seem as threatening
Simple solution: Motion sensor set to turn on a sprinkler head. No cat in its right mind will use your garden as a litterbox after the 2nd time they've been surprised by cold water, and the noise/surprise of the water might keep other pest animals away as well.
Dogs look at you and think "you feed me, you clean me, you pick up after me... you must be god!"
Cats look at you and think "you feed me, you clean me, you pick up after me... I must be god!"
and he is certainly not exploiting me at al^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Illegal instruction (core dumped)
...YOU own CAT!
After reading this article, I decided to go pet my cat. She's so adorable with her purring. I feel like feeding her now.
Really? How is the "gimme that dough for naught because I was too greedy or else I dump a shitload of unemployed, angry ex-workers on your head" we hear from businesses giving the government any control of it?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
in other news: nbauman gets bit by squirrel; blames mcgrew, slashdot user.
mcgrew .. known as the user who had an accident forgetting his disclaimer ...
squirrels are wmd's after all...
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
I'm in your mindz, controlling you with my purs!
You think that's impressive, Schroedinger trained his cat to get in a box and stop existing!
No, big cats can be just like domestic cats. Watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr1pWzoLvT8
These two guys raised this lion from a cub in their apartment until it got too big. They released it to the wild.
Slashdot needs Geekcode | Can anyone recommend any good SCIFI? My tastes: Foundation, Startide Rising, CITY, Ringworld,
You're right! But now that we know how they do it, a revolution is around the corner! :-P
Loban Amaan Rahman ==> Anagram of ==> Aha! An Abnormal Man!