The four pigs came out to win. If they played the game well, they would get tasty dog food (they would get M & Ms, but the people decided those were too sugary). Again and again, when inspired by researchers to perform a video game task – steering a cursor with a joy ship, sort of a basic thing Pong– they did so with incredible skill.
Researchers started puthrowing pigs at computer tasks in the late 1990s, and although the results received occasional media attention over the years, no experimental studies were conducted. published to today, with a paper in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. The scientists despite visual and auditory limitations on the animals, pigs were able to both understand and achieve goals in simple computer games.
“What they can do is achieve well above the opportunity to achieve these targets,” Candace Croney, director of Purdue University’s Center for Animal Welfare Science and lead author of the paper, said in a call phone. “And far enough away from the opportunity that it is very clear that they had some conceptual understanding of what they were asked to do. ”
The published research is the long-awaited result of 20 years of labor that began when Croney was at Purdue University, working with pregnant pig researcher Stanley Curtis. The project followed the efforts of two Yorkshire pigs, Hamlet and Omelet, and two Panepinto pigs, Ebony and Ivory, trying to move a cursor to a lit spot on the computer screen.
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“They want to play video games,” Curtis said told the AP in 1997. “They want to be the first out of their pens, and then run up the ramp to play. ”
It was a battle up a hill for the pigs. The delights were set out for experiments with primates, so the black pigs had to use their noses and mouths to do the work. The four pigs were found to be at a distance, so the screens had to be set at the optimum speed for the pigs to see the targets. There were additional restrictions on Yorkshire pigs. Breed to grow fast, the heaviest pigs could not stay on their feet too long.
“While there may have been some physical limitations to how well the pigs could see the screen or handle the joystick, they clearly understood the connection between their own behavior. , the joystick, and what was happening on screen, ”said Lori Marino, a freelance neuro-science expert on the mainstream paper, he said in an email. Marino, who leads the Whale Sanctuary Project, has long studied mammalian psychology, intelligence and self-awareness, including whales. “It is a testament to their agility and ingenuity that they were able to find ways to handle the joystick despite the often difficult test of physical engagement. ”
“What makes these decisions even more important is that the pigs in this study showed autoimmunity,” said Marino, “this is the ability to recognize that one’s own actions are making a difference. ”
The pigs were taught a number of commands to make their lives easier, as well as the lives of the researchers. They learned instructions similar to what you would teach a dog to sit, come, wait away from their pens when they had to clean – as well as get their toys while the games were being played. video over.
“At some point, they were getting really good at getting their toys and they weren’t as good at cleaning up after themselves,” said Croney. “I was largely growing as a pig day care worker, going around and arranging them. So we started teaching them to put things back. “
Upon completion of the investigation, the owners of a bed and breakfast, where they spent their lives on the farm. Ebony and Ivory he eventually retired to a children’s zoo. CrOney said she visited Hamlet, even years after the trials, heard her voice and came “over” all over the pasture to say hello.
The priming or boring appearance of a puppy dog may not have smooth fingers, but, consciously, they are strongly in competition. Winston Churchill once said “Dogs look up to you, cats look down at you. Give me a pig! He looks you in the eye and treats you like equality. “It is in the past that we give the pigs the respect they deserve.