The moggy who fell asleep at Malaysia¡¯s International Islamic University because ¡°it appeared to be mimicking behaviour displayed by students¡± is an unlikely case of reverse causality (¡°The week in higher education¡±, News, 6?October). From Fenimore Cooper¡¯s (1823) observation that ¡°I just closed my eyes in order to think better with myself...It was only some such matter as a cat¡¯s nap¡± to neurophysiological studies in the 1950s by William C. Dement at Stanford and Michel Jouvet at Lyon, cats are known to enjoy a short sleep during the day. Thus, in all likelihood, the students could not resist copying the cat¡¯s behaviour and succumbed to the oppressive weight of a tedious lecture.
R.?E. Rawles?
Honorary research fellow in psychology
University College London
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