Researchers: Pigs can be trained to use computer joysticks

PanARMENIAN.Net - They’ve long been thought of as smarter than your average animal, but now researchers claim they have taught pigs to use a joystick, suggesting they are even cleverer than previously thought, The Guardian reports.

Pigs have previously been found to be capable of a host of tasks, including solving multiple-choice puzzles, and learning commands such as “sit”.

Now researchers in the U.S. say they have successfully trained four pigs to manipulate a joystick and control a cursor on a monitor.

“Potentially there may be more that pigs are capable of learning and understanding and responding to than we have previously envisaged,” said Prof Candace Croney of Purdue University, who co-authored the research.

Writing in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, Croney and co-author Dr Sarah Boysen report how they used tasty treats to train the pigs to move the joysticks using their snouts while watching a computer screen.

The researchers then presented the quartet with a video game in which the pigs had to use the joystick to manoeuvre a cursor until it collided with one of four wall-like structures on screen. Upon collision the game made a “bloop” sound and the pig received a treat.