Stupid like a pig... Pig: I don't carry this stupid pot

Pig is one of the earliest domesticated domesticated domestic animals, its character is gentle, adaptable, breeding is also very fast.
, when describing how stupid a person is, are you thinking of pigs first? What stupid pig, stupid pig, pig's head, pig's brain and other common words such as the endless river water? The perpetrators of this stereotype have no way of checking, but has anyone really questioned the IQ of pigs? Yes! There have been reports in some documentaries that pigs have higher IQs than dogs, for example, when dogs know that they can get food by putting the ball in a circle, pigs know that they can get food by putting it on the ball.
a new study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers at Purdue University in the United States found that four pigs in the experiment could also use their noses to manipulate joysticks to play games on computer screens to get food rewards.
pig can play video games, the first time I heard about it? Cognitive processes such as memory, attention and conceptualization enable animals to exhibit adaptive behavior in complex dynamic environments.
processes have been extensively studied in experimental animals, including species such as non-human primates, rats and pigeons, but have not yet been fully explored in livestock.
early studies have shown the complex learning abilities of pigs, including completing spatial tasks, distinguishing brightness, color and smell, thinking in reverse, and making differentiated responses to human verbal and gesture commands.
the new study, two three-month-old Yorkshire pigs and two 24-month-old Panepinto small pigs had to complete a complex set of tasks.
first trained them to familiarize themselves with using a nose-operated joystick to complete video game tasks.
animals need to learn the connection between moving the joystick with their noses and what happens on a computer screen, and then link what happens on the screen to getting food rewards.
Overall, all pigs performed significantly better than chance in a single-walled experiment, suggesting that, to some extent, they were able to get to the link between the joystick and the screen cursor movement and successfully complete the task, which itself was significantly beyond the normal frame of reference.
this fully demonstrates the behavior and cognitive flexibility of pigs.
, the high social motivation of animals to carry out their tasks is also worth mentioning.
that while task-related food rewards may be the main motivator, the social connection between pigs and their trainers also seems important.
, the occasional equipment failure prevented the pig from being rewarded after completing the task correctly.
when this happens and is only "rewarded" by the trainer's verbal and caressing, pigs can respond correctly.
, when the test mission seems too challenging for the pig to perform, the trainer's verbal encouragement can effectively resume its training.
this may be due to the strong link between pigs and trainers during training, which supports the view that the link between humans and animals is a key factor in the successful use of animals in comparative cognitive studies.
the researchers stressed that although all four pigs showed high levels of completion for most of the tasks, they still did not reach the level of non-human primates.
may be due to the anatomical structure between the pig's eyes and nose, which leads to restrictions when operating with the nose.
addition, joysticks were originally designed for non-human primates with flexible fingers, while pig nose operations clearly limit their flexibility and performance.
, of course, there is a possible explanation that pigs do not fully understand the conceptual factors needed to perform well in tasks, i.e. pigs are not as good at such tasks as primates.
why should we care that pigs can play games or learn to find candy on space learning missions? After all, they're unlikely to find the Xbox in the pigsty.
study is part of the field of animal welfare research, known as farm animal cognition.
of farm animals is a relatively new area of research, and there are many ways to explore.
, for example, know very little about the cognitive abilities of chickens, even though they are one of the most widely bred animals on Earth.
, chickens seem to be smarter than most of us think.
researchers say they are only just beginning to understand how different management methods used in farm animals affect their cognitive development.
species reared without the care of a female animal, inadequate care and mixed social groups can all have a negative impact on animal cognition.
as such research becomes more extensive, researchers will translate these findings into evidence for improving farm and animal lives.
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