Mirror Test variant for cats: Can your cat use a mirror?

[callista]

You may have heard of the mirror test. It's an experiment designed to find out if an animal has an idea of what "me" is, by using the animal's ability to identify its own image in a mirror. The basic idea is that you let the animal play with the mirror for a while until it knows what the mirror does, then put a mark on the animal somewhere that it can't see--like a dot of paint on an elephant's forehead, for example. Then you let the animal play with the mirror again. If the animal uses the mirror to examine the dot, then the animal has passed the mirror test. Animals that have passed this test include the great apes, elephants, dolphins and porpoises, and 18-month-old human toddlers.

Cats don't pass the mirror test. The trouble is, we don't know that this is because they don't know what "me" is. All the animals that passed the test have been ones that are able to manipulate things with fingers or trunks--even in the case of the dolphins it's still being argued that they didn't pass because their flippers simply didn't reach the spot (they did, however, turn in front of the mirror to get a look at the dots). Cats have paws, and they don't really manipulate things in complex ways most of the time, so it's not that natural for them to poke at a bit of paper you've stuck to their foreheads before you put them in front of the mirror. And they think more in terms of motion than shape, so that they may not notice that their body has a different mark on it, but may easily notice movement in the mirror.

I think that cats can pass the mirror test, or at least show that they are able to use a mirror. Some of my online friends have told me about their cats' ability to use mirrors to locate their human friends--around corners, or by looking into the mirror at a human behind them. I've also noticed that while my cats react with hostility to a cat on the other side of a window, they react with indifference to a "cat" that is on the other side of the window because I have placed a mirror there for them to look into. This suggests that the cat knows that the mirror image is itself because otherwise it would hiss, as it does to any other cat that appears in that window.

It would be interesting if we tested our own cats, and saw how they reacted to mirrors. Please don't do these to cats that would be skittish and frightened or aggressive; that's mean, and the cat wouldn't be able to properly think about the situation anyhow. Also, be careful not to break the mirror. It may not actually be bad luck, but it's annoying to clean up.

Kitty Mirror Test

• The classic mirror test
  Put a bit of sticky paper on your cat's forehead--just barely stick it on there, so the cat can't actually feel you put it there. Best thing to use is the sticky part of a post-it note, because you can just brush it off again--it won't actually have to be pulled off your cat's fur, like masking tape would have to be. Once you've done that, wait a bit, and put your cat in front of the mirror. Does the cat reach a paw up to remove the bit of sticky paper, or examine his image more closely than usual? If so, he may be aware that the mirror image is his. It is unlikely that a cat will pass this test, but you never know until you try. Maybe we have some kitty geniuses out there.
• 1: Movement and Position
  With your cat facing a mirror or a window with the outside dark enough to have a good reflection, approach the cat from behind. Stay there for a while until your cat starts to look back into the mirror or window. (A good spot for this is when you are looking into a mirror, maybe doing your hair, and the cat is on the counter between you and your mirror.) Bring your hand up to above your cat's head, as though you are going to pet his head. Watch his ears--if he flicks them back to you, he has heard you move. If he moves his head up to meet your hand in the usual headbutt fashion, and he has not flicked his ears back to hear you move, then he is using your reflection and his reflection to meet your hand for petting.
  
• 2. Self-Recognition
  Find a window where your cat usually gazes outside. Think about how she reacts to her reflection in the mirror, and then think about how she reacts to another cat outside that window. Now place a mirror between the window and the outside, so that the cat will be looking at her own image when she looks "out". Does she react to her image as she does to a mirror, or does she react to it the way she would to a strange cat--either friendly curiosity or hostility? If she is indifferent, she is probably able to identify a mirror image by sight and recognize it as an unremarkable reflection.
  
• [Object Location
  Wait for the cat to be in a playful mood. Prop a mirror up so that it shows a view around the corner. Place the cat's favorite toy, or dangle a wand or rod style toy, so that it can only be seen by its mirror image. Let the cat explore the mirror. Does the cat try to find the toy that is "behind" the mirror, or does he go around the corner--away from the image--to find the real toy? If he uses the image to go straight to the toy and finds it with little searching, then he is probably able to use the mirror to locate an object.

So tell me--how did your cat do?
How familiar was she with mirrors before you tried the experiment?
How did she react to your mirror image reaching to pet her?
How did she react to seeing her mirror image in a place where she usually sees either other animals or an outdoor view?
Did she figure out how to use the mirror to find her toy?

 

[mani]

I haven't time at the moment to do all the experiments, but I have found that mine won't see themselves when I pick them up to look in a mirror, or if the mirror is on the floor, but when the mirror is at floor level they see 'other cats' and become unsure what to do.

What interests me in the picture below is that I've tossed a piece of plastic that Nilah was chasing before, onto the mirror,  and there she is, totally focused on it, but ignoring the mirror's reflections.

mirror playing (15).jpg

• mani
• Jun 2, 2013

 

[dejolane]

Yes Thunder gets on the bathroom sink and looks at herself everynight while I'm watching her from my bed. She knows I'm watching her. She is so funny.

 

[andrya]

The only one of mine who actively uses the mirror is Tanner.

They all know their own reflection and will bump up towards the hand they see coming in the reflection.

Tanner does use the mirror. He will position himself on the far left of it when l am on the far right and sit and watch me through it.

He also uses it while hiding from Bretten so he knows the right time to pounce. Bretten can see the same mirror when they're playing but doesn't use it, or even seem to know it's there.