Image via Gabriella Smith
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The cats sat in the Kanizsa squares and the taped squares, and didn’t sit in the control. According to the study, that means that cats are capable of “illusory-contour perception.” Illusory contours are visual cues that suggest the edge of a shape that doesn’t really exist. In this case, the Kanizsa illusion uses shapes to mark the corners of a square, and the brain fills in the rest of the shape. Humans develop illusory contour perception around 3 to 4 months, and it strengthens with age. “Many animals are evolved to perform this sort of perception,” said Smith. “It’s probably to do with navigating the environment. You need to know when not to walk into a tree or off a cliff.”
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