Visual discrimination of size and perception of the Delboeuf illusion in the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus): A developmental disjunction?

Abstract

To date, no studies have examined the ontogeny of susceptibility to visual illusions in nonhuman mammals. Our previous study on the perception of the Delboeuf illusion by adult cats suggested they perceive this illusion, and that the visual processing involved in size judgment differs in the presence or absence of a misleading surround. We therefore asked whether weanling kittens are susceptible to the Delboeuf visual illusion, as adult cats are. Like the adults, kittens were presented with a series of 2-way food choice tasks where same- or different-size food portions were presented on same- or different-size plates. In control trials, the kittens significantly discriminated between 2 different amounts of food on same-size plates and, like adults, they chose the larger amount; when the difference between the food amounts was greater, the kittens chose the larger amount more reliably. Olfactory control trials confirmed that kittens, like adults, used visual cues when comparing quantities in this setting. In contrast to adults, however, in the illusion trials with same-size food portions on different-size plates, the kittens did not choose either of the 2 different-size plates significantly above chance and so did not appear to perceive the illusion. This suggests heterochronicity in the development of the cat visual system in which the ability to discriminate sizes develops before susceptibility to an illusion using these stimuli. Remaining questions include at what age susceptibility to visual illusions emerges and whether this depends on continued maturation of the brain, on experience of the visual world, or both. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).