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. 2021 Feb 11:12:631755.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.631755. eCollection 2021.

Acquisition of a Joystick-Operated Video Task by Pigs (Sus scrofa)

Candace C Croney  1 , Sarah T Boysen  1   2
Affiliations

Acquisition of a Joystick-Operated Video Task by Pigs (Sus scrofa)

Candace C Croney et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

The ability of two Panepinto micro pigs and two Yorkshire pigs (Sus scrofa) to acquire a joystick-operated video-game task was investigated. Subjects were trained to manipulate a joystick that controlled movement of a cursor displayed on a computer monitor. The pigs were required to move the cursor to make contact with three-, two-, or one-walled targets randomly allocated for position on the monitor, and a reward was provided if the cursor collided with a target. The video-task acquisition required conceptual understanding of the task, as well as skilled motor performance. Terminal performance revealed that all pigs were significantly above chance on first attempts to contact one-walled targets (p < 0.05). These results indicate that despite dexterity and visual constraints, pigs have the capacity to acquire a joystick-operated video-game task. Limitations in the joystick methodology suggest that future studies of the cognitive capacities of pigs and other domestic species may benefit from the use of touchscreens or other advanced computer-interfaced technology.

Keywords: animal behavior; animal cognition; animal learning; pigs; video tasks with animals.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Joystick apparatus for testing pigs.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Pig subject using joystick during testing with SIDE Task.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Performance of Yorkshire pigs on one-walled targets collapsed across target position. Horizontal dashed line indicates chance performance.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Performance of Panepinto micro pigs on one-walled targets collapsed across the target position. Horizontal dashed line indicates chance performance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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