Help with Science Project

[McCrea]

CEREBRAL DOMINANCE IN CATS

I am doing a project on cerebral dominance in cats for my science class, and would like to ask for your help. For this experiment you will need:

• a cat
• a string
• pencil and paper
• a few minutes to observe and play with your cat(s)

This experiment consists of two parts; observing the cat when it begins to walk and when it bats at a piece of string.

WALKING EXPERIMENT: Observe your cat when it is sitting on the floor with its front paws even. When it starts to walk, record the front paw that it starts with. Repeat this observation ten times and make a note of which front paw the cat begins with each time.

BATTING EXPERIMENT: With your cat sitting on the floor with its front paws even hold a string directly in front the cat’s face. When the cat starts to bat the string, record which paw it uses first. Wait a few minutes to let the cat settle down, and then repeat the processes. Repeat this batting experiment ten times* and make a note of which front paw the cat begins with each time.

*If the cat bats at the string with both paws at once do not count this trial but continue until you have observed 10 left or right choices.

Please send me your cat’s name and the left/right score for walking and batting. I will let you know the final results.

Thank you for your help

[momPaws]

Interesting - would do if I had a cat. I sent to my daughter who has 3.
Hope ppl here do this - I would love to know the results and conclusions.
How old are you and what course (or grade) is this for?

[momPaws]

ok- peeps - is this a joke post that only I fell for?

[Cleo]

Well, I thought there was some validity to it and when I got the chance was going to test my cats....but with 10 cats now time is a little hard to come by.

[Marty]

I dunno, don't have cats, but looking at the member list, the person hasn't come back to check for responses...

[TheSkeptic]

My guess he figures this board is as slow as most and will not return for a few days, figuring it will take that time to get a response.

[McCrea]

A few more results

Spot
Walking: Right 9, left 1
Batting: Right 7, left 3

Sophie
Walking: Right 8, left 2
Batting: Right 5, left 5

Sadie
Walking: Right 0, left 10
Batting: Right 0, left 0 (and a look that said “Get that string out of my face so you can pet me”)

[Traci]

My cats are ambidextrous

[McCrea]

Some Results of Cerebral Dominance Observations in cats

1- Shadow1: Walking:R7 L3 Batting:R7 L3
2 - Sabina: Walking: R6 L4 Batting:R7 L3
3 - Aiden: Walking: R9 L1 Batting:R8 L2
4 - Shoe: Walking: R7 L3 Batting:R7 L3
5 - Jake: Walking: R4 L6 Batting:N/A
6 - Oreo: Walking: R7 L3 Batting : R5 L5
7 - Nicci: Walking: R7 L3 Batting: R7 L3
8 - Ruby: Walking: R6 L4 Batting: R7 L3
9 - Spot: Walking: R9 L1 Batting: R7 L3
10 - Sophie: Walking: R8 L2 Batting:R5 L5
11 - Sadie: Walking: R0 L10 Batting:N/A
12 - Nikki: Walking: R4 L6 Batting:R2 L6
13 – Shadow2: Walking: R7 L3 Batting:R6 L4
14 - Dastiny: Walking: R4 L6 Batting:R5 L5
15 - Sandy: Walking R1 L9 Batting:R2 L8
16 - MoKi: Walking: R6 L4 Batting:R7 L3
17 - Tigger: Walking: R4 L6 Batting:R4 L6
18 - Casper: Walking: R5 L5 Batting:R2 L8
19 - Millwood: Walking: R1 L9 Batting:R5 L5
20 - Whiskers: Walking: R3 L7 Batting:R4 L6
21 –Sabrina : Walking: R8 L2 Batting:R8 L2
22- Mia: Walking: R5 L5 Batting:R8 L2
23- Sitka: Walking: R4 L6 Batting:R9 L1
24- Wisteria: Walking: N/A Batting:R10 L0
25- Pepper: Walking: R8 L2 Batting:R7 L3
26- Mittens: Walking: R3 L7 Batting:R5 L5
27- Casey: Walking: R8 L2 Batting:R9 L1

[TheSkeptic]

Now that you have the data I have the following questions:

A: What does it tell you?

B: Is your statistical population large enough for confident results.

C: Where do you go from here?