I wouldn't want to appear to be putting down the researchers at the U of A ... seeing as I graduated from there myself .... BUT, as I read this info the first thing that came to my mind was whether or not the cat (or horse or dog) could see the hurdle if it was under their tummy while they were distracted. It made sense to me that they remembered putting their front paws over the hurdle and if they didn't see that the hurdle was still under them then they just assumed it was and lifted their hind legs up and over too. If they were stopped and distracted before stepping over the hurdle and then it was lowered ... well, they could see that it was no longer in front of them and then they just walked straight across. I dunno .....
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Oh, and about losing my car in a parking lot, I KNOW it makes no difference if I remember walking away from my car and into a shopping mall. It's a matter of remembering if I walked away from my car on the side of the mall or the front of the mall .... and was that my memory from today ... or yesterday ...