Does Sense of Touch Impact a Cat's Behavior?

Abstract

Have you ever seen a cat slowly move its head and whiskers into a small space before crawling through it? They’re using their sense of touch to see if they can fit into the space! In this science experiment, you’ll test how cats use their sense of touch to move through the world by using a maze to determine if they prefer big or small spaces.

Summary

Areas of Science

Mammalian Biology

Difficulty

Method

Scientific Method

Time Required

Very Short (≤ 1 day)

Prerequisites

None

Material Availability

Readily available

Cost

Very Low (under $20)

Safety

Adult supervision recommended when handling animals

Credits

Laura Ohl, PhD, Science Buddies Alumni

Science Buddies is committed to creating content authored by scientists and educators. Learn more about our process and how we use AI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s9hg4C80Ik

Objective

To test how a cat's sense of touch, through their whiskers, impacts their movement through a maze. 

Introduction

Animal behavior research focuses on what animals do and why. Often, we study animal behavior by observing how they interact with their environment or how they react to external stimuli. Some stimuli include changes to the environment, food availability, or opportunities to interact with other animals. Much of animal behavioral research focuses on observing the behavior of animals through mazes. These animal mazes consist of different obstacles that an animal must navigate to observe their behaviors. Some examples include how quickly an animal can climb down a pole, how much it moves around in an open space, or how an animal uses their senses and memory to escape an unfamiliar space. One famous example of an animal behavioral researcher was Temple Grandin, PhD. She helped redesign a cattle chute to keep animals calm so that they aren't frightened by the external stimuli of being pushed by other cattle into a small space. She came up with the innovative idea to design a cattle chute entry with a semi-circular shape, so that the cows would slowly form into a single file line to walk into the chute, which kept the animals much calmer. Dr. Grandin is one of many animal scientists who have helped us understand more about animal behavior. 

If animal behavior is often a reaction to stimuli, how does the nervous system recognize them? The nervous system is integrated into every part of an animal’s body, and allows them to sense or feel what is in their environment. Somatosensation is the neuroscience term for our sense of touch. This complex sense is felt by neurons innervated or integrated into our skin that communicate with our brains to interpret changes in pressure and vibration on our skin. This sense is important for all animals to interact with their environments. It’s even more important for animals, like cats, who have extra-sensitive hairs called whiskers, that allow them to sense when an object or prey is close to their face. Whiskers are extra helpful for cats because they have trouble seeing very close to their face. They are especially useful for them to hunt or navigate an environment. 

Many animals use their senses to inform their behavior. For example, elephants use their trunks to interact with their herd, and dogs use their sense of smell to identify territories. Cats use their whiskers to help them have situational and bodily awareness in their environments. Have you ever noticed a cat slow down when they approach a small space? Do they use their paws or whiskers to touch or sense their environment? A cat’s heightened sensation in their whiskers makes them less likely to spend time in tightly enclosed spaces where there would be an overwhelming amount of sensation input. Does your cat prefer to spend time in larger or smaller spaces? Have you ever tested their ability to navigate their environment? While most cats tend to move through larger over smaller enclosed spaces, not all cats share this same behavior all the time. 

Image Credit: Laura Ohl, PhD / Science Buddies

Image of experimental setup for how an animal moves through the maze, including 3 holes of increasing size through a doorway-blocking maze.

Figure 1. Experimental setup to show how the animal is expected to move through the maze.

In this experiment, you will observe how a cat interacts with its environment. To do this, you will create a maze and observe how they use their body’s sense of touch to navigate their environment, and how it impacts their choice of which space to move through. You will also measure the time it takes to move through the maze, to see if they learn how to navigate the maze more quickly after becoming more familiar with the maze. In this experiment, you’ll learn about how somatosensation of an environment can impact an animal’s behavior. 

Terms and Concepts

• Animal behavior
• Stimuli
• Mazes
• Nervous system
• Sense
• Somatosensation

Questions

• How is animal behavior often studied?
• Why is understanding animal behavior important?
• What are stimuli, and how do they impact animal behavior?
• What is the role of the nervous system in forming behaviors?
• What is somatosensation?
• Why would animals, like cats, prefer less enclosed spaces?

Materials and Equipment

• 1 cat (see variation options if you don't have access to a cat) 
• 1 large piece of cardboard to create a maze across the doorway
• A pencil or marker to draw shapes on cardboard
• A ruler or a tape measure
• String to help draw circles (optional)
• Cat treats for motivation to go through the maze (optional)
• Timer or stopwatch to measure the time to complete the task 
• Partner or phone/camera with video capabilities to record the time to complete the task after the experiment (optional)

This project follows the Scientific Method. Review the steps before you begin.

In this experiment, you will observe how a cat uses their sense of somatosensation to move through a maze and record their behavior.

1. Obtain a piece of cardboard that can be placed across a doorway to block entrance and exit through the doorway. 
2. Create your maze, similar to Figure 1. 
   1. Draw three equidistant, or equal distance, dots on the piece of cardboard. These will be the center of each circle. 
   2. Measure and trace circles from these dots using a pencil or a piece of string. Each circle will have a different, increasing diameter. We recommend starting with a radius of 3, 4, and 5 inches for an average-sized cat, or bigger for larger cats. Make sure each hole you create on the piece of cardboard is within the edges of the door frame and not blocked by it.
      1. Note: Creating circles that are too small for your cat will influence your results. If your cat avoids any of the holes or uses their limbs instead of their head to explore the space, this is an indicator that the size may be too small for your cat, and you may need to redesign your maze to match your cat’s physical size. 
   3. Cut out each circle along the traced edge so it remains intact, creating 3 cardboard circles of the same size and shape as the holes. 
      1. Tape the circle cut-outs to cover each hole after the cat has gone through them. This will allow you to test non-repetitive behavior of the cat in your study and will prevent the cat from going through the same hole twice within one trial.
   4. If you want to use a phone or camera (with video) to help keep track of the time to complete the task, instead of live timing on your own or with a partner, set it up so that the entire maze is within view. 
3. Before you start, there are a few things to control for during the experiment, so you can more easily and consistently observe the cat’s behavior.
   1. Place the cat in the same spot each time, ideally on the same side of the maze each time. 
   2. Whether measuring time during or after the experiment, keep your timing consistent. Once the cat is placed on the ground, start the timer. Keep the timer running until the cat crosses through the maze and completely to the opposite side of the maze.
      1. (optional) We recommend having a second person help with timing the cat or using a phone/camera that can video record to measure the time to complete the task, which you can do after you have completed the experiment. 
   3. If using treats to encourage the cat, we recommend placing the treat in the same place each time or at least a similar distance (at least 1-2 feet) in front of the maze to control for this variable and prevent it from influencing the cat’s behavior. Keep the location as consistent as possible between trials. 
   4. Once you have a plan in place to control for these variables, go ahead and execute your experiment. 
4. Watch the cat’s behavior through each trial. We recommend a minimum of 3 trials.
   1. Keep track of the order in which the cat moves through the maze, in Table 1. Take care to cover each hole of the maze after they have gone through it within a single trial to test non-repetitive behavior. 
   2. Track the time to complete each task, and add results to Table 1.
   3. Write down any other observations made during the experiment in Table 1.
5. After you’re done with the experiment, you can use the following guiding questions to inform your analysis of the data.
   1. Does the cat go through the holes in the same order each time? Does it go from the largest to smallest, smallest to largest, or does it seem random each time? If the behavior seems random, consider repeating the experiment multiple more times to see if a repetitive behavior does form, and it's just delayed in developing. 
   2. Does the cat improve in its average time to complete the task, or take longer as the experiment goes on? What does this tell you about their behavior? Do you think they are learning or regressing in their ability to complete the task?
   3. Did you notice any other behaviors in your cat? Did the whiskers slowly bend before entering the hole? Did the cat “test” the holes by touching them with their limbs before they went through them? Did they test holes more when they were smaller or larger? Record any additional observations from the study and make additional conclusions if these occurred repeatedly across trials. 

Swipe left to see more

Table 1. Data table to summarize a cat’s behavior.

Trial Number	Order of maze (small, medium, large)	Time to complete maze (sec)	Other observations (testing, vocalizing, etc.)
1	1st hole -  2nd hole -  3rd hole -	1st hole -  2nd hole -  3rd hole -
2
3
Summary	Most common pattern:	Average time:	Common behaviors:

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Global Goals

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) are a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

This project explores topics key to Good Health and Well-Being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

This project explores topics key to Life on Land: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.

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