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Object permanence in cats: Analysis in locomotor space
C Thinus-Blanc1, B Poucet, N Chapuis
1Institut de Neurophysiologie et Psychophysiologie, Département de Psychologie Animale, C.N.R.S., 31 chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13277 Marseille Cedex 9 France.
Abstract:
Stages IV and V object permanence were studied with 38-40-week-old cats. A constraining apparatus preventing animals from pursuing the bowl containing meat before it was concealed was used. Either the bowl was seen moving and disappeared from view behind a screen (stage IV trials), or after this sequence, it reappeared from behind the first screen and disappeared behind a second screen (stage V trials). In both situations cats performed significantly above chance but the paths taken to reach the food were different according to the stage. In stage V trials, cats expressed a preference for the path leading to the end of the second screen where the food was last seen disappearing.
