Pigs show potential for ‘remarkable’ level of behavior, mental flexibility in new study

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

Yorkshire pig uses the joystick. Credit: Eston Martz / Pennsylvania State University

Pigs will probably never be able to fly, but new research shows that some species in the genus Sis may have a remarkable degree of behavioral and mental flexibility. A study published in Boundaries in psychology tested the ability of four pigs to play a simple joystick-enabled video game. Each animal showed some conceptual understanding, despite limited skill in tasks normally given to non-human primates to analyze intelligence.

The study involved two Yorkshire pigs named Hamlet and Omelette, and two Panepinto micro pigs, Ebony and Ivory. All four animals were trained to approach and manipulate a joystick with their snouts in front of a computer monitor during the first phase of the experiment. They were then taught how to play a video game in which the aim was to move a cursor with the joystick in the direction of up to four target walls on the screen.

Each pig performed the tasks far beyond the chance, indicating that the animal understands that the movement of the joystick is connected to the cursor on the computer screen. The fact that these far-sighted animals could do the job without opposing thumbs is ‘remarkable’, according to the researchers.

“It is not a small achievement for an animal to understand the concept that the behavior they perform has an effect elsewhere. That pigs can do it to any extent, we need to get a little quiet about what they still have can learn and how such learning can affect it, “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 chimpanzees cognition, was co-author of the study.

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

Corresponding author Dr Candace Croney and one of the Yorkshire study pigs, Omelette. Credit: Eston Martz / Pennsylvania State University

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

In the current study, the team used food to teach and reinforce behaviors, but also found that social contact can greatly affect their perseverance. For example, when the treatment of the machine did not work, the pigs continued to give correct answers using only verbal and tangible instructions. And it seems that only verbal encouragement helps the animals during the most difficult tasks.

“This kind of study is important because, as with all creatures, the way we treat pigs and what we do about them has an effect and what matters to them,” Croney said. “We therefore have an ethical obligation to understand how pigs obtain information and what they can learn and remember, because it ultimately has implications for the way they experience their interaction with us and their environments.”

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

Panepinto micro pig Ebony with the joystick. Credit: Candace Croney

Although the pigs could not meet the skill level of non-human primates during the video task and did not meet the criteria used for primates to fully master the concept, the researchers said the shortcomings could be partly explained by the nature of the experiment. , designed for agile, visually oriented mammals.

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

“Managing practices and improving pig welfare has been and still is a major goal, but it is a subordinate point to better appreciate the uniqueness of pigs, beyond any benefit we can derive from it,” Croney said. .


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More information:
Boundaries in psychology (2021). DOI: 10.3389 / fpsyg.2021.631755, www.frontiersin.org/articles/1… syk.2021.631755 / full

Quotation: Pigs show potential for ‘remarkable’ level of behavioral and mental flexibility in new study (2021, 11 February) detected on 11 February 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-02-pigs-potential-remarkable- behavioral- spiritual.html

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