I am convinced that this video tells us that the domestic cat sees this optical illusion as we do, namely that it moves – in fact the wheels rotate. And in moving, this charming cat wants to play with it and attack it in a slightly half-hearted way.
I am reproducing the same optical illusion on this page and you can see for yourself that it moves. For us the game stops there. We know it is an illusion but for the cat, primed to attack moving objects, it represents prey. The fact that he/she attacks the paper indicates that she is also seeing the same movement or it points to that possibility.
What do you think? If I am correct it should not surprise us as the eyesight of the domestic cat is, fundamentally, not that dissimilar to ours.
The image comes from Wikipedia: Illusion similar to Rotating Snakes by Kitaoka Akiyoshi.
I agree that this cat sees the image as moving.
This is a very interesting and accurate test of a cat’s inherent intelligence. It’s been said that man’s intellect and society building abilities are based on mapping and manipulating spacial relationships in our minds. The better you are at that, the easier most complex concepts are understood and used. IQ questions such as “Which of these doesn’t belong?” test this, I think. This optical illusion is an excellent test, is undeniable, and shows also that you have to ask the right question to get the right answer. If you don’t know what to look for, you won’t find it, which is why so much cat research has been stupid. Again, IMHO.
That is a nice point to make I think. But people are gradually understanding that animals are more intelligent than once believed. I never doubted it.