Will a cat sit in a square that isn’t really there?
If I fits I sits: A citizen science investigation into illusory contour susceptibility in domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus)
Cat owners taped optical illusions to the floor to see if cats would sit in a square that isn’t really there.
Cats famously love to sit in boxes and squares taped on the floor. Researchers asked cat owners at home to lay out paper shapes, including a Kanizsa square: four Pac-Man-like corners that trick the eye into seeing a square that isn’t drawn.
Cats chose to sit in the illusory square about as often as in a real one, suggesting they see the illusion just like we do. Even an imaginary box is still a box, as far as a cat is concerned.
If it fits, it sits. Even if it only fits in theory.