Pigs show potential for ‘remarkable’ levels of behavioral, mental flexibility in new study

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

The study involved two Yorkshire pigs called Hamlet and Omelette and two Panepinto micro pigs, Ebony and Ivory. All four animals were trained to approach and operate a joystick with their snout in front of a computer monitor during the first phase of the experiment. They then learned how to play a video game where the goal was to move a cursor with the joystick to up to four target walls on the screen.

Each pig performed the tasks well above chance, indicating that the animal understood that the movement of the joystick was linked to the cursor on the computer screen. The fact that these far-sighted animals were able to succeed in the task without opposing thumbs is “remarkable,” the researchers said.

“It is no mean feat for an animal to understand that the behavior they perform has an effect elsewhere. That pigs can do this to any degree should make us think about what else they can learn and how that can affect learning. are on them, ”said lead author Dr. Candace Croney, a professor at Purdue University and director of the Purdue Center for Animal Welfare Science Sarah T. Boysen, known for her work on chimpanzee cognition, was a co-author of the research.

Scientists already know that pigs are capable of different kinds of learning, from the same kind of basic obedience commands taught to dogs such as “come” and “sit” to more complex behaviors that require them to change their behavior when the rules of the game change. One study even found that pigs can use mirrors to find hidden food in a fence, Croney noted.

In the current study, the team used food to teach and reinforce behavior, but also found that social contact could greatly influence their persistence. For example, when the machine that dispensed sweets was not working, the pigs continued to give correct answers using only verbal and tactile cues. And only verbal encouragement seemed to help the animals through the most challenging tasks.

“This kind of research is important because, like all living things, how we interact with pigs and what we do with them affects and is important to them,” Croney said. “We therefore have an ethical duty to understand how pigs acquire information and what they can learn and remember because it ultimately impacts how they perceive their interactions with us and their environment.”

While the pigs could not match the skill level of non-human primates in the video task and did not meet the criteria used for primates to demonstrate complete mastery of the concept, the researchers said the shortcomings could be partly explained by the nature of the experiment. , which is designed for agile, visually oriented mammals.

The study ended before the researchers could explore a more ambitious goal: whether such a computer interface with symbols could be used to communicate more directly with the pigs, as has been done with non-human primates.

“Informing management practices and improving the welfare of pigs has been and still is an important goal, but that is actually secondary to better appreciating the uniqueness of pigs, aside from any benefit we can derive from them,” said Croney.

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