Pigs can play video games using their snouts, scientists discover

Pigs can be trained to play simple video games, the scientists found, demonstrating the animals’ potential for a “remarkable” level of behavioral and mental flexibility. A BBC report presented a set of information about piglets, from a research article published in a newspaper entry on Frontiers in Psychology. The document details an investigation into whether pigs are able to play a joystick-operated video game task, with four pigs – Hamlet, Omelet, Ivory and Ebony – trained to move a joystick with their snouts to direct a cursor on the screen.

Pigs were required to move the cursor to make contact with targets with randomly placed walls, and a reward was provided if the cursor hit a target. However, the researchers noted that the pigs exhibited a “high level of social motivation to perform the task” and continued to play even when the food reward was not dispensed because of the coach’s social incentive.Image credit: Eston Martz / Pennsylvania State University

Image credit: Eston Martz / Pennsylvania State University

“This type of study is important because, as with any sentient being, the way we interact with pigs and what we do with them has an impact and importance for them,” said Dr. Candace Croney, the study’s lead author.

Analysis of game session data showed that neither Hamlet nor Omelette achieved significant performance on three-wall targets, but performed “above chance” on one-wall and two-wall targets, with “78 and 70% correct answers. ” in the last . Ivory and Ebony were more successful than expected by chance on three-walled targets, but had a greater game gap on targets on one wall.

Ultimately, the researchers were pleased that pigs had the ability to acquire the joystick-operated video game task, although they also noted that future studies on the cognitive behavior of domestic species may benefit from the use of touch screens or other advanced computer interface technology due to dexterity and visual restrictions, since all four subjects, in this case, were foresightful.Similar experiments were conducted with chimpanzees and monkeys, which proved to be even more skilled, with their opposite thumbs and individually movable fingers giving them an advantage. It remains to be seen, however, what can happen when a monkey plays video games in his own mind. Elon Musk may have the answer for us soon, as he stated that one of his companies has implanted a device in a monkey’s brain and hopes to make him play mind pong with another cyborg monkey.

Adele Ankers is a freelance entertainment journalist. You can reach it at Twitter.

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