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The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

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Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#71

Post by gavinmckenzie »

interlinked wrote: post #34
winrid wrote: post #8

I do this all the time to my cats. Sometimes the cat will trill back like "oh, got it", which is about equal parts interesting and cute.

Literature says cats can't understand it when you point at something. That's because they don't have fingers. You can point at things using your eyes and they understand. One day I was eating some fruits and a stray cat came to me and started meowing. I gave it a piece which it rejected and started meowing again. I stared for a couple seconds at my plate and then at the piece on the ground and the cat looked like it…

This is interesting. I've had both cats and dogs, and with the theory "they don't have fingers" I wonder why do dogs understand human pointing? Dogs of course communicate with a direct gaze (looks at empty food bowl, looks at human, looks back at empty food bowl) and can understand us communicating back with a directed gaze, but at the same time my dog definitely understands me pointing at something.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#72

Post by DFHippie »

tim_hutton wrote: post #62
Twisol wrote: post #14

> Cat’s eye movements were coded using actions defined in CatFACS, an anatomically based system designed to objectively measure facial actions based on their underlying muscle movements. Whoever named this system was clearly aware of the meme. I'd like to remain subscribed to CatFACS, please!

Did you know, cats are believed to be the only mammals that don't taste sweetness! To unsubscribe at any time, reply STOP to this message.

I have heard (and perhaps misremembered) that the only taste receptor remaining to whales detects saltiness, which seems a bizarre outcome given that their mouths are constantly filled with brine.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#73

Post by Sharlin »

hnbad wrote: post #64
Sharlin wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cats also regard looking away as a friendly gesture. Which is probably one reason they anecdotally tend to seek out the company of the one person who is allergic or does not like cats. Humans not accustomed to cat body language tend to think of looking away as a sign of aloofness and disinterest instead.

Some people jokingly say that cats are autism and dogs are ADHD and if you know people who are autistic or have ADHD, the parallels are fairly obvious. Autistic people also struggle with other humans insisting on eye contact.

As do Finns (I'm one), and people of many other non-American cultures. And many non-autistic but shy or introverted or highly sensitive persons. You seek eye contact momentarily when you make a point in a conversation, or respond to a point made, or want to empathize, or whatever. Prolonged or too frequent eye contact is weird.

That said, cats very much do stare at your face when they want or are expecting something, usually food. They also have the adoring eyes-half-open stare mode you can see examples of at r/Catsmiring.

I would say that cats better fit the introvert archetype, and dogs the extrovert one, rather than something from the DSM. Anecdotally there's also a significant positive correlation with their respective owners' personalities.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#74

Post by Sharlin »

bikeshaving wrote: post #59
Sharlin wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yawning probably goes back at least to the first mammals, it's pretty hard-wired as a standard mammalian social cue signifying a calm and relaxed affect and being in the "rest and digest" parasympathetic mode. It's contagious across species, and even thinking about yawning makes you want to yawn!

Yes but humans have also co-opted it to mean something like “you’re losing my interest,” which seems funny to me. I wonder if there are more examples of instinctive behaviors being deployed sarcastically in humans.

Well, there's of course sarcastic smiling and sarcastic or scornful laughing, the "genuine" forms of both being partly involuntary responses. Another interesting reflex action that's been deployed socially by humans is clearing one's throat to politely request attention.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#75

Post by depressedpanda »

interlinked wrote: post #34
winrid wrote: post #8

I do this all the time to my cats. Sometimes the cat will trill back like "oh, got it", which is about equal parts interesting and cute.

Literature says cats can't understand it when you point at something. That's because they don't have fingers. You can point at things using your eyes and they understand. One day I was eating some fruits and a stray cat came to me and started meowing. I gave it a piece which it rejected and started meowing again. I stared for a couple seconds at my plate and then at the piece on the ground and the cat looked like it…

Maybe cats in general don't understand pointing, but both of my cats do. One of them is quite intelligent, so I'm not surprised there, but even the stupid (but adorable) one gets it.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#76

Post by bluefishinit »

I've heard that cats blink to show affection in part because they don't have a lot of face muscles to do anything else. As someone who has had both dog and cat pets, it does seem like the dogs have a vast array of emotions they can display with their faces, and cats pretty much just stare and look like they're about to kill something. They can scruff their fur but they can't "smile" like dogs or look "guilty", they seem more static.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#77

Post by JohnFen »

Sharlin wrote: post #49
serchinastico wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely! Dogs use yawning a lot in their communication if you look close enough. They also have other messages like smelling around, looking away, etc. I think they all might mean something along the lines of "I don't see you as a threat to me so we are good"

Cats also regard looking away as a friendly gesture. Which is probably one reason they anecdotally tend to seek out the company of the one person who is allergic or does not like cats. Humans not accustomed to cat body language tend to think of looking away as a sign of aloofness and disinterest instead.

> Humans not accustomed to cat body language tend to think of looking away as a sign of aloofness and disinterest instead.

But not always. For instance, a common sign of flirting in humans is to repeatedly catch someone's eye and then look away.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#78

Post by sph »

xattt wrote: post #63
bravura wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For maximum results, lie sideways on the ground and start blinking slowly and petting yourself gently and meowing softly. Your friends will think you're crazy, but cats will love you.

While I understand this comment is made in jest, I do wonder whether cats are able to “map out” or recognize body parts of humans as parts equivalent on the cat body plan.

I have always wondered that about eyes in general: I'm not sure if I'm daft or not, but it seems surprising to me that animals with any intelligence look at us in the eyes.

Why fixate on the face and not, say, our hands or body, if they might be afraid of us, to determine if we are a threat? Eyes must provide a higher signal of intent, so it's surprising that even animals on a much lower level of intelligence can read our facial expressions.

I'm not sure if it's a good or a stupid question.

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#79

Post by shrimp_emoji »

serchinastico wrote: post #43
yard2010 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use this trick for years, in my experience yawning theatrically gets the same result

Absolutely! Dogs use yawning a lot in their communication if you look close enough. They also have other messages like smelling around, looking away, etc. I think they all might mean something along the lines of "I don't see you as a threat to me so we are good"

They're called calming signals, and the reason they're calming is because they make it obvious that the individual isn't "on alert".

If the individual means you harm, they're going to be paying close attention to your every movement since they're about to attack. They'll be staring directly at you, sizing you up, preparing to pounce.

Looking away, smelling around, yawning, slow blinking or eye closing, are all boondoggles that signal, as you said, "hey, I feel at ease with you enough to do this idle busywork, almost as though you weren't here at all because I don't see you as a threat or target".

Re: The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication (2020)

#80

Post by solarmist »

sph wrote: post #78
xattt wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I understand this comment is made in jest, I do wonder whether cats are able to “map out” or recognize body parts of humans as parts equivalent on the cat body plan.

I have always wondered that about eyes in general: I'm not sure if I'm daft or not, but it seems surprising to me that animals with any intelligence look at us in the eyes. Why fixate on the face and not, say, our hands or body, if they might be afraid of us, to determine if we are a threat? Eyes must provide a higher signal of intent, so it's surprising that even animals on a much lower level of intelligence can rea…

It's not a stupid question. It's a matter of stages of engagement.

The face and eyes indicate intention. You can't successfully track or kill without focusing your full attention on the object, and the easiest way to detect this is by seeing where the eyes are focused.

Once a threat is determined, then focus moves to other body parts.

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