Time to load up some popular games: new research indicates pigs possess the mental capability to play video games. The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, tested the ability of four pigs (Hamlet, Omelette, Ebony and Ivory) to play a simple joystick (操纵杆) game with their noses, moving a cursor (光标) to four targets on the screen. Although the animals didn't demonstrate the skills to win a round any time, they did show an understanding of some elementary games. Performing well not by chance, the pigs appeared to recognize the movement of the cursor was controlled by the joystick. The fact that they did so well despite a lack of flexible fingers is "extraordinary", according to the researchers.
"It is no small achievement for an animal to grasp the concept that the behaviour they are performing is having an effect elsewhere. That pigs can do this to any degree should give us pause as to what else they are capable of learning and how such learning may impact them, "said Purdue University's Dr Candace Croney, the study's lead author.
Researchers also noted that while the pigs could be taught to play the game using food as positive motivation, they also responded well to social interaction. In fact, when the game was made more challenging and the pigs became unwilling to participate in it, "only oral encouragement by the experimenter" would see training continue.
These findings are the latest to highlight the intelligence of pigs. Not only have they been shown to use mirrors to find hidden food, but studies have also demonstrated how pigs can be taught to "come" and "sit" after oral commands.
As with any sentient (有感觉力的) beings, how we interact with pigs and what we do to them impacts and matters to them. We therefore have a moral duty to understand how pigs acquire information, and what they are capable of learning and remembering, because it ultimately offers the potential for how they understand their interactions with us and their environments.
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