Violeta A. (TimeTravelRomanceRea) reviewed on + 53 more book reviews
it has a range of picture tests to test your cat's ability. one is called the "inconsistency test" that tests your cat's peripheral vision to test which of the 9 patters(8 chickens + 1 rabbit) is different .....and of couse it requires that you feed your cat first or it will throw off the results and just mash at every one of the patterns......(so funny!)
from a beginning page of the book:
M.O.N.P.A.'s Test Cards
The Museum of Non-Primate Art (M.O.N.P.A.) is an internationally funded research organization with several branches located throughout the world. Founded in 1976 by the well-known art historian and animal philanthropist, Dr Peter Hansard, M.O.N.P.A.'s initial focus was on elephant painting, spider web design, and bear scratch forms. However, following the 1980 publication of Arthur Mann's ground-breaking research into representational marking by domestic cats, a new division was set up within the museum to concentrate on research into feline aesthetics and undertake the development, preservation, curation, and exhibition of cat art.
In 1984 M.O.N.P.A. established a salon of resident cat artists to enable researchers to study them at work in a controlled environment. To recruit these cats, a set of test cards was developed with the aim of sorting out the creative cats from the non-creative applicants. Development took longer than expected, but, by 1987, 18 cards were in use by museum staff and had been found to be 82% accurate in predicting a cat's creative intelligence. While modern brain activity scans now offer more effective ways of assessing a cat's creative quotient in the laboratory, these cards are still used by many professionals as an initial screening device, not only by breeders wanting to check a cat's artistic potential, but also by art dealers who may need to verify whether a particular cat is capable of the work claimed for it.
In 1994, when Newsweek announced in its September 19 issue that cats could paint, it generated such widespread international interest in cat art that M.O.N.P.A. was swamped with requests for more information from cat owners around the world. In order to handle the demand, the museum set up an interactive Internet site (), which included four of the test cards. Owners could hold their cats up to the computer screen and, judging by the cats' reactions to the images on the cards, determine something of their artistic ability. The cards proved so popular that M.O.N.P.A. decided to publish the full set in this easy-to-use book format in the hope that it would enable many more creatively intelligent cats to be identified and encouraged.
from a beginning page of the book:
M.O.N.P.A.'s Test Cards
The Museum of Non-Primate Art (M.O.N.P.A.) is an internationally funded research organization with several branches located throughout the world. Founded in 1976 by the well-known art historian and animal philanthropist, Dr Peter Hansard, M.O.N.P.A.'s initial focus was on elephant painting, spider web design, and bear scratch forms. However, following the 1980 publication of Arthur Mann's ground-breaking research into representational marking by domestic cats, a new division was set up within the museum to concentrate on research into feline aesthetics and undertake the development, preservation, curation, and exhibition of cat art.
In 1984 M.O.N.P.A. established a salon of resident cat artists to enable researchers to study them at work in a controlled environment. To recruit these cats, a set of test cards was developed with the aim of sorting out the creative cats from the non-creative applicants. Development took longer than expected, but, by 1987, 18 cards were in use by museum staff and had been found to be 82% accurate in predicting a cat's creative intelligence. While modern brain activity scans now offer more effective ways of assessing a cat's creative quotient in the laboratory, these cards are still used by many professionals as an initial screening device, not only by breeders wanting to check a cat's artistic potential, but also by art dealers who may need to verify whether a particular cat is capable of the work claimed for it.
In 1994, when Newsweek announced in its September 19 issue that cats could paint, it generated such widespread international interest in cat art that M.O.N.P.A. was swamped with requests for more information from cat owners around the world. In order to handle the demand, the museum set up an interactive Internet site (), which included four of the test cards. Owners could hold their cats up to the computer screen and, judging by the cats' reactions to the images on the cards, determine something of their artistic ability. The cards proved so popular that M.O.N.P.A. decided to publish the full set in this easy-to-use book format in the hope that it would enable many more creatively intelligent cats to be identified and encouraged.
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