Take a look at the web site, which has videos of two cat "subjects" purring with and without the annoying embedded pitch. Each cat displays both forms of the purr - very distinctive. Plus a great video of one cat doing the annoying purr thing until some chow is delivered to an empty bowl. (Good for use in class)
Not all cats do this variant on purring (I have one that does, but has come to escalate to a really annoying yowl whenever anything displeases him - very cranky at 18 years old!). My other cats never did this (but had other methods for controlling me). From: Claudia Stanny [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 1:08 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] annoying cat solicitation purr According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, "Cats are able to control their humans by emitting a high-pitched "solicitation" cry - embedded in a purr - that is so annoying it can't be ignored" (Sept 18) http://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/cmvcr/Domestic%20cats.html They go on to note that in busy households where such purring is often overlooked, the cats resort to overt meowing. You betcha. A colleague noted that this will be useful as a great example of negative reinforcement in action. Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. Director, Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Associate Professor, Psychology University of West Florida Pensacola, FL 32514 - 5751 Phone: (850) 857-6355 or 473-7435 e-mail: [email protected] CUTLA Web Site: http://uwf.edu/cutla/ Personal Web Pages: http://uwf.edu/cstanny/website/index.htm --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
