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August 15, 2010
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Apparently when something interests you, the best way to figure it out is to smack it really hard, and repeatedly. If you’re a cat, at least.
h/t @ferrisjabr
About the Author: Jason G. Goldman is a graduate student in developmental psychology at the University of Southern California, where he studies the evolutionary and developmental origins of the mind in humans and non-human animals. Jason is also an editor at ScienceSeeker and Editor of Open Lab 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, CA. Follow on Google+. Follow on Twitter @jgold85.
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I think hitting hard has to do with the perceived size of the thing. In contrast, a first encounter with a ping pong ball would be a light tap. A cat will tap a little puppy, but slug a big dog.
Link to thisI’m tempted to buy a treadmill just to see how my cats will react.
Link to thisYour YouTube link doesn’t seem to work any more, but I think this is the same video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeYKqRRKpDo
Damn, it’s been removed “due to terms of use violation”. Bum.
Link to thisThanks to Laura (@2), the evil cats are back messing with the treadmill.
Link to thisI saw a range of different touches – the poke and back off (which didn’t look like a hard strike to begin with) is the first, which makes sense if they’re expecting things to try to counterattack. I particularly liked the black-and-white cat trying to hold the belt back.
Link to thisWhen in doubt, groom!
Link to this