Video gamers with a snout: Once again the pigs have demonstrated their high intelligence. A study shows that they are able to operate a joystick with their snout and thereby perform tasks on a screen. According to this, pigs understand the abstract connection between the movement of the control unit and the cursor. This shows how highly developed these animals are, which are mostly only considered for their usefulness, say the two authors.
Earlier studies have already impressively shown that pigs are anything but stupid. The cognitive abilities of Sus scrofa can therefore at least be compared with those of dogs: like our “best friends”, domestic pigs can learn the meaning of commands such as “come” and “sit” and also show complex behaviors as well as the ability to abstract. For example, they can use mirrors to find hidden food in an enclosure. Studies have shown that every animal has a distinctive personality.
Candace Croney and Sarah Boysen from Purdue University in West Lafayette have now further explored the cognitive potential of pigs. They wanted to find out to what extent the animals master a task in which primates have already demonstrated their cognitive abilities: the use of a computer joystick. With their skilled hands and the ability to abstract, monkeys are quite capable of understanding the function of this device in combination with the effects on a screen and of solving tasks. Can pigs also do this by using their snouts to control them?
Snout instead of hands on the joystick
“Hamlet” and “Omelette” took part in the study – two pigs from a farm animal breed. In addition, the two mini pigs “Ebony” and “Ivory” took part in the trials. All animals first learned through rewards to move a joystick in front of a computer monitor. Then the scientists tried to teach the animals the actual task: They were supposed to move the cursor to up to four target walls on the screen by moving the joystick. If successful, there was a noise and the pigs got a treat.
As the researchers report, it became apparent at the end of the training that all four pigs had understood what it was all about: their successes weren’t just coincidences, the evaluations showed. According to the two researchers, the fact that the pigs did not reach the level of primates was probably due to the fact that they cannot operate a joystick with their snouts as skillfully as monkeys with their hands. Pigs are also known to be farsighted. But the important thing is that these animals apparently also grasp the principle, emphasize Croney and Boysen. “It is a remarkable achievement for an animal to understand that its own behavior has an impact on an effect on a screen,” says Croney. “The fact that pigs are able to do this should make us think about what else they can learn and grasp”.
More respect announced
As the two scientists also report, their experiments also reflect that pigs are social creatures and that interactions are of great importance to them – this also applies to contact with humans. According to the researchers, the test animals also developed learning success and perseverance in the experiments when it was only about praise instead of a food reward.
“As with all sentient creatures, the way we treat pigs is important,” says Croney. The researcher is convinced that we have an ethical obligation to observe what goes on in these animals. “Improving animal welfare in factory farming is an important goal, but we should also appreciate the pigs apart from their benefits to us,” says the scientist.
Source: Frontiers, technical article: Frontiers in Psychology, doi: 10.3389 / fpsyg.2021.631755