MadSci Network: Zoology |
Tom,
Your cat's behaviour has been noticed before, and even studied. Your
cat probably does see something in the mirror (providing it is not visually
impaired) - most animals will react to a mirror image, but not recognise
themselves. This ability is believed to be restricted to primates - Humans,
chimpanzees and great apes. It is believed that to recognise one's face,
one need's a 'sense of self,' that is, to know what is 'me' and what is
'not me.'
Most animals (except the higher primates) do not have this sense of
self, and do not realise that the image is their own body. They will think
that the mirror image is another animal, and usually realise that they are
of the same species as themselves. Cats will tend to regard the image as
another cat, and some will become territorial. There are amusing videos of
cats trying to go behind the mirror to find the other cat (they seem to
understand the theory of see-through glass). Other animals will react in
different ways. For instance, gibbons will attack the mirror when they see
it, believing the reflection to be a threatening gibbon. It is said that
parrots and other speaking birds will not speak if you put a mirror in the
cage, as they believe that there is another bird in the cage.
The most common test for self recognition (first done by Gallup, 1977,
with baby chimps) is to mark the face and see if there is a change in
behaviour. Gallup firstly observed a baseline, of how much the animal
touches their head when in front of the mirror, until the animal was
accustomed to the mirror. Next, the animal was anaesthetised, and a spot of
odourless, non-irritant, powder put on the face. Finally, the animal was
observed again, firstly without the mirror (to see if they could feel the
spot) and then in front of the mirror, to see if there was an increase in
face touching around the spot. The young chimps increased the activity
around the spot by 25% if they had previously seen themselves in the
mirror. A separate group, who had no prior experience with the mirror, made
no increase when presented with the mirror.
If you know a friendly vet, with a suitable dye and anaesthetic, you
might put this to the test (please be careful not to harm your cat in the
procedure).
Hope this has been helpful to you,
The mad 'A' - Adam
References:
Gallup, G. G. (1977). Self recognition in primates. American
Psychologist, 32, pp329-38.
Gross, Richard. (1992). Psychology, the science of Mind and Behaviour
(2nd Ed). Hodder and Stoughton
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