The pigs had to move the mouse to make contact with targets that were positioned at random, and a reward was awarded if the cursor collided with a target. However, researchers noted that the pigs had a ‘high level of social motivation to perform the task’, and that they continued the game even if a food reward was not handed out due to social encouragement from the trainer.
Image Credit: Eston Martz / Pennsylvania State University
“This kind of study is important because, as with all creatures, the way we treat pigs and what we do about them has consequences and most importantly,” said Dr. Candace Croney, lead author of the study.
The data analysis of the game sessions showed that neither Hamlet nor Omelet achieved significant achievements on three-walled targets, but that they performed “above chance” on single-walled targets and two-walled targets, with “78 and 70% correct answers” on the latter. Ivory and Ebony were both more successful than was accidentally expected on three-walled targets, but had a larger gap in the single-walled targets.
Finally, researchers were satisfied that the pigs have the ability to acquire the joystick-powered video game task, although they also noted that future studies into the cognitive behavior of domestic species may benefit from the use of touch screens or other advanced computer interface technology. due to to agility and visual limitations, as all four subjects in this case were farsighted.Similar experiments were performed with chimpanzees and monkeys being even more skilled, with their opposite thumbs and individually moving fingers giving them an advantage. However, it remains to be seen what can happen if a monkey plays video games in its own head. Elon Musk may soon have the answer for us, as he claims one of his companies implanted a device in a monkey’s brain and hopes to have it play ‘mind pong’ with another cyborg monkey.
Adele Ankers is a freelance entertainment journalist. You can reach her Twitter.