Animals Are 'Stuck In Time' With Little Idea Of Past Or Future

Is this true if so how cool well wierd but also cool. I have here a new link for you guys so enjoy

When u think about pets that do get over exicted when they see u two mins later like my pet is. his because time never moves for them? y do u rekon most of them never get boerd because time stands still wel lthats what i think abit

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[edit on 9-4-2008 by SaadAdam]

Update!

Animals Are 'Stuck In Time' With Little Idea Of Past Or Future, Study Suggests

Dog owners, who have noticed that their four-legged friend seem equally delighted to see them after five minutes away as five hours, may wonder if animals can tell when time passes. Newly published research from The University of Western Ontario may bring us closer to answering that very question.

William Roberts and his colleagues in Western’s Psychology Department found that rats are able to keep track of how much time has passed since they discovered a piece of cheese, be it a little or a lot, but they don’t actually form memories of when the discovery occurred. That is, the rats can’t place the memories in time.

The research team, led by Roberts, designed an experiment in which rats visited the ‘arms’ of a maze at different times of day. Some arms contained moderately desirable food pellets, and one arm contained a highly desirable piece of cheese. Rats were later returned to the maze with the cheese removed on certain trials and with the cheese replaced with a pellet on others.

All told, three groups of rats were tested in the research using three varying cues: when, how long ago or when plus how long ago.

New research indicates that rats are able to keep track of how much time has passed since they discovered a piece of cheese, be it a little or a lot of time, but they don't actually form memories of when the discovery occurred. That is, the rats can't place the memories in time.

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[edit on 9-4-2008 by Jbird]

Yeah I bet those rats didn't have a corner office with a window and natural day and night cycles.

Most labs are windowless and lit by florescents. I doubt that experiment had anyting like the natural conditions needed for a valid result.

You would be amazed how poorly conceived most rat experiments are.

Animals Are 'Stuck In Time' With Little Idea of Past or Future.

What do they mean by "little idea of past or future". Makes it sound like they don't really know.

Originally posted by SaadAdam
New research indicates that rats are able to keep track of how much time has passed since they discovered a piece of cheese, be it a little or a lot of time, but they don't actually form memories of when the discovery occurred. That is, the rats can't place the memories in time.

Considering rats and other non-human animals can't read a timepiece or calendar it's not that surprising

I can't believe someone actually spent money to research this.

Originally posted by Cyberbian
Yeah I bet those rats didn't have a corner office with a window and natural day and night cycles.

Most labs are windowless and lit by florescents. I doubt that experiment had anyting like the natural conditions needed for a valid result.

You would be amazed how poorly conceived most rat experiments are.

Your right thats kind of tru rats life in poor conditions on labs and # just a lil box or small cahe with the same scene everyday and same cloths so not much diffrence he would rember true?



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[edit on 9-4-2008 by Jbird]

reply to post by styxxz



i dident right any of this its al lfro mthe site sorry dident quote it from the site one part of it but yeh its worth researching sometimes to understand a other nature piece more

SORRY DRINKING


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[edit on 9-4-2008 by Jbird]

reply to post by SaadAdam


Yes I know, I read the article you linked. I'm not shooting the messenger or anything, just adding my 2cents
Happy drinking

Originally posted by styxxz
reply to post by SaadAdam

 

Yes I know, I read the article you linked. I'm not shooting the messenger or anything, just adding my 2cents
Happy drinking

Its allright mate thanks yeh its not bad yeh u wonder who spends money on these things also? ay u just wonder could it all be planned or could it have been solved years and years ago was this world really smarter back then.

Doesn't make sense. They need to know because of things like traveling, what's the point of traveling to one place, but you forget half way.

Why does my cat act differently after 2 weeks of not seeing him, he acts like I've been away for a long time.

Confusing.

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
Doesn't make sense. They need to know because of things like traveling, what's the point of traveling to one place, but you forget half way.

Why does my cat act differently after 2 weeks of not seeing him, he acts like I've been away for a long time.

Confusing.

I dont know but sometimes i do think thay are in the same time or maybe exactly like us or maybe time is diffrent with them its longer or shorter? we dont know exact but would love to know ay

In my opinion cats are VERY much alike us.

But you know all animals are "different" So we can't say they all think the same way, it depends on the animal.

[edit on 9-4-2008 by _Phoenix_]


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[edit on 9-4-2008 by Jbird]

Or u can say dogs are more? or monkeys are very close to us thay are us we are monkeys also we just dont know it our ancestors were lil sperms we are bacteria evolution gone wild.


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[edit on 9-4-2008 by Jbird]

Originally posted by _Phoenix_
Why does my cat act differently after 2 weeks of not seeing him, he acts like I've been away for a long time.

Dunno, last year I was away for 3 months and when I returned my dog & cat recognised me instantly. Btw, my cat is very un-sociable and runs from strangers. I'm sure memory retention varies on different species. I wonder if elephants really "never forget"? hmmm

Anyway, I think the only way we'll ever know for sure how animals perceive time is when we can directly communicate with them. Where's Dr. Dolittle when you need him

Let's watch the quotes , folks.

No need to quote the post directly above yours.


And please try to utilize the 'REPLY TO:' option,

or trim the quotes to the salient portions needed

to make your point.





[edit on 9-4-2008 by Jbird]

People who observe that phenomenon of pets acting the same if you're gone for a minute or an hour must be talking about dogs. Dogs are extremely social creatures and it's not very surprising if they're pretty much always happy to see you. Cats on the other hand usually couldn't care less and are content to leave you alone unless they're hungry. However cats do get bored if left alone for long periods of time and this leads to feline obesity as they turn to eating to keep them busy. My cat knows what time I get home and is almost always waiting at the door ready to be fed. If I get home early, he's usually still in bed.

I think it's hard for anyone not entering into it with a bias, usually religious, to not see that animals are thinking, cognitive creatures fully capable of comprehending the passage of time.

But are they fully capable of comprehending the passage of time or just acting on impulses built-up through regular routine? (trained)
However I don't dismiss the possibility. At this point I don't think we really know with any certainty

Dogs live in the moment. They don't think about the past or the future. They have no conecpt of time. An hour isnt an hour to them. That why when I leave and work a 12 hour day my dogs are just as excited to see me when I return from a 5 min trip to the gas station.

They can't think of past memories and rationalize them with current thoughts, nor can they contemplate the future. The only thing that they think about is what is happening that very moment.

Thats why putting a dog in time out does nothing, they arent able to rationalize what they have done, nor can you ever punish a dog after it does something wrong. You have to catch him in the act otherwise to him it is a random punishment for nothing.

They learn by association and repitition. I'm sure they have memories, but they dont know when that memory took place, they dont have the "timeline" we do.

We could all learn a great lesson from dogs, dont dwell on the past, or contemplate the future, live in the now and make the best of it.

If you'd like more reading on dogs I recommend Cesar Millan's books (The Dog Whisperer) he does a great job of explaining how the dogs mind works. I cant speak for all animals, I only know dogs!

reply to post by BluByWho


I highly disagree. My dog seems to have an idea of when in the day family members come home - that is, she'll look out the window or something. I don't see any reason to assume that a dog is getting excited because it forgets when it last saw you rather than because it's simply a very social creature.

reply to post by Johnmike


Repitition...

He doesnt sit and "think oh boy my family is coming home soon" and get excited, he gets excited once you have arrived, because he is a social creature.

Sure he knows that at that time of the day is when people usually arrive, he learned that through repitition. Dogs don't use the past or the future to dictate their behavior. He doesnt however understand how much time has passed since he last saw you, or how much longer til you arrive, he knows through the repitition that around that time of the day your family returns.

You also must understand a dog does not use his senses like a person. A dog uses his nose first, then his eyes, then his ears. Thats why when your on a walk your dog knows there is an animal present long before you see it. That is also why dogs smell one another when they meet each other. Staring is a sign of dominance. This is also why i can get my dog to sit or lay down without ever saying a word or giving a hand signal, all it takes is a look.



[edit on 9-4-2008 by BluByWho]

[edit on 9-4-2008 by BluByWho]

[edit on 9-4-2008 by BluByWho]

reply to post by styxxz

Since the observed passage of time is merely the ability to remember past moments and assemble them into a sequence, obviously they are at least capable of the former. I hide food around the house for my cat to "hunt" for at night and when I've watched him he first finds all the spots where food is but doesn't eat it, only to return directly to them later. As far as the latter, I don't know you'd have to ask them. I default in the affirmative as it is a simple fact that our pets get bored. You don't get bored if you don't realize you've had nothing to do for an extended period of time.