Pigs show potential for 'remarkable' level of behavioral, mental flexibility in new study

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/f-psp020321.php

 

News Release 11-Feb-2021
Researchers teach four animals how to play a rudimentary joystick-enabled video game that demonstrates conceptual understanding beyond simple chance
Frontiers

 

Pigs will probably never be able to fly, but new research is revealing that some species within the genus Sus may possess a remarkable level of behavioral and mental flexibility. A study published in Frontiers in Psychology tested the ability of four pigs to play a simple joystick-enabled video game. Each animal demonstrated some conceptual understanding despite limited dexterity on tasks normally given to non-human primates to analyze intelligence.


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Scientists already know that pigs are capable of various types of learning, from the same sort of basic obedience commands taught to dogs like "come" and "sit" to more complex behaviors that require them to change behaviors when the rules of the game change. One study has even shown that pigs can use mirrors to find hidden food in an enclosure, Croney noted.

In the current study, the team used food to teach and reinforce behaviors, but also found that social contact could strongly influence their persistence. For instance, when the machine dispensing treats failed to work, the pigs continued to make correct responses using only verbal and tactile cues. And only verbal encouragement seemed to help the animals during the most challenging tasks.

"This sort of study is important because, as with any sentient beings, how we interact with pigs and what we do to them impacts and matters to them," Croney said. "We therefore have an ethical obligation to understand how pigs acquire information, and what they are capable of learning and remembering, because it ultimately has implications for how they perceive their interactions with us and their environments."

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