Pigs Trained to Play Joystick-Controlled Video Game
takyon writes:
Pigs show potential for 'remarkable' level of behavioral, mental flexibility in new study
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 [open, DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631755] [DX] 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.
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 goal was to move a cursor using the joystick toward up to four target walls on the screen.
Each pig performed the tasks well above chance, indicating the animal understood that the movement of the joystick was connected to the cursor on the computer screen. The fact that these far-sighted animals with no opposable thumbs could succeed at the task is "remarkable," according to the researchers.
Also at The Guardian, Gizmodo, and TechRaptor.
Hat tip to The Mighty Buzzard for his submission which gave us the TechRaptor link!)
Journal Reference:
Candace C. Croney, Sarah T. Boysen. Acquisition of a Joystick-Operated Video Task by Pigs (Sus scrofa), Frontiers in Psychology (DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631755)
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