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Cute Cat Photos Are Data-Driven Science Behind Cunning New Language Learning App
An anonymous reader writes "Cats are cute, and cute is good for cognition. Which is why Memrise, a language learning startup, settled on using lolcat-style cat photos as mnemonic aids for a new series of apps aimed at people who normally wouldn't bother learning another language. The first CatAcademy app is 'Cat Spanish' From the article: 'What we found, however we sliced it, was that pictures of cats — cute pictures specifically, of which over 50% were cats — just kept on coming out as the most effective mnemonics... I have to admit we were slightly skeptical to begin with. We're a scientific group, and data driven — but the data did drive us towards cats.'"
Now, just to add cat pictures to Mnemosyne.
I can has espanol?
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
"We're a scientific group, and data driven — but the data did drive us towards cats."
I assume they've excluded all other explanations including toxoplasmosis...
Ezekiel 23:20
Yeah, most of you cannot even edit your posts.
[Edit] changing you're to your
I, for one, am glad that we are not on dotchan.
I resemble that comment.
- dotancohen
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
Is your cat waking you up to get fed?
My cats used to do that and I got tired of it, so I set my phone to ring a particular ring tone at feeding time. It took them three meals at most to connect the breakfast/dinner bell to breakfast/dinner, and now they never hound me for food at all. They will gather around when the time nears, but they don't start clawing at my legs or batting my face while I sleep. They wait patiently, hear the bell, and run to the kitchen.
Also, one thing that keeps them happy, is to play with them for about 15 or 20 minutes before dinner -- cats are wired to hunt, kill, eat, groom, sleep. This works really good at keeping down fights between cats because they're all so satisfied.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good