SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Study Confirms 'Slow Blinks' Really Do Work to Communicate With Your Cat:
If you've spent any time around cats, you've probably seen their 'partially closed eyes' facial expression, accompanied by slow blinking. It's similar to how human eyes narrow when smiling, and usually occurs when puss is relaxed and content. The expression is interpreted as a kind of cat smile.
Anecdotal evidence from cat owners has hinted that humans can copy this expression to communicate to cats that we are friendly and open to interaction. So, a team of psychologists designed two experiments to determine whether cats behaved differently towards slow-blinking humans.
In the first experiment, owners slow-blinked at 21 cats from 14 different households. Once the cat was settled and comfy in one spot in their home environment, the owners were instructed to sit about a metre away and slow-blink when the cat was looking at them. Cameras recorded both the owner's face and the cat's face, and the results were compared to how cats blink with no human interaction.
The results showed that cats are more likely to slow-blink at their humans after their humans have slow-blinked at them, compared to the no-interaction condition.
The second experiment included 24 cats from eight different households. This time, it wasn't the owners doing the blinking but the researchers, who'd had no prior contact with the cat. For a control, the cats were recorded responding to a no-blink condition, in which humans stared at the cats without blinking their eyes.
The researchers performed the same slow-blink process as the first experiment, adding an extended hand towards the cat. And they found that not only were the cats more likely to blink back, but that they were more likely to approach the human's hand after the human had blinked.
Journal Reference:
Tasmin Humphrey, Leanne Proops, Jemma Forman, et al. The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication [open], Scientific Reports (DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73426-0)
(Score: 2, Funny) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday October 09 2020, @03:38AM (1 child)
'Nuff said. Of course the same has been attributed to Arab businessmen but they're just fucking monumentally lazy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 09 2020, @09:37AM
People squint when there's no shade you alcoholic mole-rat.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 09 2020, @03:42AM (1 child)
There are many different blinks. The stereotypical slow blink, the half-blink, the quick blink followed by "eye evasion"... They will greet you with the sniff-sniff-forehead-lick if you follow protocol. Tail posture, swing angle, and frequency. Where you sit, how you position yourself, and what way you are looking all matter if you're trying to felinically correct.
(Score: 4, Funny) by driverless on Friday October 09 2020, @08:37AM
whether you're holding a bunch of Whiskas Temptations in your hands,
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 09 2020, @04:05AM
You might get swatted in the eye.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 09 2020, @04:27AM
https://alf.fandom.com/wiki/Cat [fandom.com]
(Score: 4, Funny) by dltaylor on Friday October 09 2020, @04:53AM (2 children)
People train dogs (usually), but cats train people (also usually).
I've seen many people who care for cats adjust their own lives to suit the cat(s). I only have one "rule" when I'm cat-sitting or otherwise primarily caring for a cat: the box gets cleaned EVERY day. I refuse to let a cat train me otherwise.
Heinlein wrote "Never try to out-stubborn a cat", but it IS possible.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday October 09 2020, @08:39AM
That's why it's important to preselect your cat, e.g. if you get an ex-feral from a shelter (which is a good thing anyway) they're likely to toilet outdoors so you never need to worry about a litter box. Just make sure you get everyone who comes into the house when they're still young to handle them for five to ten minutes to socialise them otherwise they can grow to be pretty skittish.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Friday October 09 2020, @03:25PM
Cats aren't actually that hard to train, provided you focus mostly on establishing behaviors that advance their self-interest.
Which at its core isn't that different than dogs - except that for dogs food and human approval are about all the self-interest you need to indulge and they'll do just about anything to get them. Cats are far more complicated creatures, and trying to convince them that performing pointless tricks is in their self-interest when all they're getting out of it is a small snack isn't going to work nearly as well.
(Score: 2) by jimtheowl on Friday October 09 2020, @04:59AM (3 children)
This study confirms that non-cat owners can be polite towards cats by closing their eyes to show they trust them.
This incidently applies to other animals.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DECbot on Friday October 09 2020, @06:36AM (2 children)
You raise an interesting theory. It could possibly work on other animals... I wonder... Do slow blinks work on rioting humans? This must be tested. Quick! get the van, we have Science to conduct!
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 09 2020, @02:51PM
Dogs raised with cats will pick up this and some other cat habits.
(Score: 2) by jimtheowl on Sunday October 11 2020, @10:55PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 09 2020, @04:59AM
"Well, the two that I have could use another playmate... What's one more cat in the house?"
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Friday October 09 2020, @07:46AM
About a year ago [soylentnews.org], but I've known this for a long time.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by legont on Friday October 09 2020, @01:22PM
A cat can and do use that half closed eyes to express the whole range of emotions. Aggression and contempt are among them. Only neutered cats lose this ability and end up with just "smile".
I did not read the article, but my bet is all of the subjects were neutered.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.