Pigs may be more intelligent than people thought, as shown in a study where pigs used a joystick (操纵杆) and played a video game. Researchers used 2-year-old Panepinto micro pigs called Ebony and Ivory, as well as Hamlet and Omelet, 3-month-old Yorkshire pigs. Researchers first taught these pigs how to play with a joystick, teaching them the word, "joystick". Next, on the words "watch the screen", they learned how to watch targets (目标) on the screen. Of course, praise was given to the active pigs winning a game.
During the experiment, all pigs performed well. As they became more successful, the level of difficulty increased, just like in human video games! At first, the pigs had to hit a three-walled target which was then reduced to two walls and then one wall.
All pigs did well with the three-walled targets; however, the Panepinto pigs performed better on the more difficult levels. One disadvantage for the Yorkshire pigs was that they simply grew so large that they could no longer fit in their test. After a few months, Omelet and Hamlet were taken away from the experiment.
Dr. Candace Croney, a leading animal behavior scientist in Cambridge, said, "The findings of the study are important because what we do to pigs matters to them. It would be nice for people to realize how special pigs are, and how much more intelligent they may be than we recognized. The researchers said that the pigs' actions were deliberate (故意的). This led them to believe that pigs were able to, successfully do new tasks.
"It may encourage other researchers to use touch screens and computer technology to study pigs intelligence in the future," Croney said. The team hopes this type of research will make people pay more attention to this farm animal and show people how they can change the lives of animals.
