Pigs pass a mirror test

[El_Machinae]

Well, shoot. I wasn't expecting this. This means that I actually have to care about pig consumption. Well, I guess I've cared a bit, but not as much as these results warrant.

link

I need to find a good source of kangaroo, maybe? All I have left, really, is chicken.

A team of animal welfare scientists at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom placed eight domesticated pigs (Sus scrofa), two at a time, in a pen with a mirror for 5 hours. Because pigs are social, they prefer having a companion in a pen; plus they could also observe each other's actions and movements in the mirror. At first, the pigs studied their reflected images and movements; some grunted at their image, and one banged the mirror so hard with its nose, it broke the glass. "They initially interpret the image as another pig," says lead author and animal welfare scientist Donald Broom. That's a classic error that most species never get beyond.

But soon, the pigs showed their smarts. During their 5-hour sessions, they learned to correctly assess the mirror's properties--to understand the relationship "between their own movements and their image in the mirror," including the surrounding environment, says Broom.

Those talents showed up when the scientists later placed each pig in a new test area that contained a food bowl hidden behind a solid barrier. The pigs could see the reflection of the bowl only in the mirror. An overhead fan circulated the food's scent so that the pigs could not simply sniff their way to success. In less than 25 seconds, seven of the pigs correctly interpreted the bowl's image, turned away from the mirror, and ran to get the prize. The eighth pig looked behind the mirror for the bowl.

The pigs' ability to use a mirror is more than a circus trick, the researchers say. It is also an indication of "assessment awareness," says Broom, meaning that they understand the "significance of a situation" and their position in it. Thus, to use the reflected image to find the food bowl, the pigs had to remember what they saw in the mirror, as well as understand the reflection and their movements in relationship to it. Such cognitive skills are an indication of "some degree of self-awareness," says Broom. "It's not conclusive, but it is likely they are self-aware given our results."

The scientists attempted to further verify that pigs are self-aware by giving them the classic mirror-mark test--placing a visible mark on them--to see how they would respond. Unlike most other mirror-smart animals, Broom says, the pigs "paid little attention" to these smudges, "probably because they often get marks on themselves."

Still, the pigs' success in the mirrored food-bowl test means that they should now be added to a select list of species--elephants, dolphins, magpies, gray parrots, some primates, and humans--that can use mirrors, the researchers report in the current issue of Animal Behavior. "Finding sophisticated awareness" in pigs "will hopefully lead to better welfare for them," says Broom.

 

[Shaihulud]

My mom used to cook pigs brain for me before an exam, because pigs are smart.

 

[emzie]

I'm actually quite shocked. Fascinating. No more pork for me. Preferred beef anyway

 

[WickedSmurf]

So from now on when you go to the supermarket to buy pork you'll not only be informed that the pigs were brought up ecologically and happily and whatever somewhere but also that they were too stupid to pass the mirror test?

"This product was not self-aware"

 

[Dragonlord]

Well, shoot. I wasn't expecting this. This means that I actually have to care about pig consumption. Well, I guess I've cared a bit, but not as much as these results warrant.

I need to find a good source of kangaroo, maybe? All I have left, really, is chicken.

I can also recommend ostrich - a taste very similar to beef. You can get it in supermarkets in Germany, so I assume you can get it as well.

I'm actually quite shocked. Fascinating. No more pork for me. Preferred beef anyway

Same here - though I am not especially shocked, as I already knew pigs were quite intelligent.

 

[Winner]

This doesn't strike me as particularly conclusive research - I am suspicious because the scientists obviously wanted to prove a point, so observer bias might have played a role.

I am not saying it is impossible though, pigs are smart and in some aspect amusingly close to humans (even on the genetic level). Unfortunately there is no chance in hell we could actually ban pork globally.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I remember watching a documentary once where they tought pigs to play a game similar to Pac Man. It was harder to train a chimpanzee to play it and dogs needed to be shown how to play all the time.

 

[Dachs]

Huh, that's neat. Reading that makes me feel a bit peckish though, I think I'll go for a ham and Swiss sandwich

 

[emzie]

This doesn't strike me as particularly conclusive research - I am suspicious because the scientists obviously wanted to prove a point, so observer bias might have played a role.

I am not saying it is impossible though, pigs are smart and in some aspect amusingly close to humans (even on the genetic level). Unfortunately there is no chance in hell we could actually ban pork globally.

As the tree (elm... el_m, get it?) said, I wouldn't call the results conclusive, I'll await more research, but it's enough that I'm not going to eat pork. Silly Muslims got this one right

 

[Cutlass]

Haven't there been tests where some breeds of birds did this? If them, why not pigs?

 

[El_Machinae]

It does need to be replicated with other groups. I thought the idea of asking pigs to understand the concept of "look behind you" was interesting, since the marking system (as done in other animals) didn't work.

I'm cautious enough to not eat pork, though, until the research comes out. Just in case.

edit: x-post with contre.


Anyway, I wasn't expecting pigs because (unlike birds), they've not evolved abnormal brain size.

 

[Kyriakos]

"(...) men, pigs, pigs, men, and in the end you couldn't tell the difference"

 

[classical_hero]

Obviously now we cannot eat smart animals. It does not bother me if we have a smart animal or not for dinner. Obligatory Futurama reference.

"Bender, it is not right to eat dolphins, since they are smart creatures."
"Well not this one, since he lost all his money on scratchies."

 

[emzie]

Haven't there been tests where some breeds of birds did this? If them, why not pigs?

Magpies and grey parrots. Brain size isn't indicative of intelligence alone as larger bodies demand more allotment of capacity to control physical action.

 

[Mise]

This isn't conclusive, but it's a good indication that I should stop eating pig!

 

[Phlegmak]

I don't understand why this means you have to stop eating pig.

 

[Bill3000]

I don't understand why this means you have to stop eating pig.

Because it would mean that they are self-aware.

 

[WickedSmurf]

I don't understand why this means you have to stop eating pig.

Me neither. They could solve math problems for all I care, I would still eat mah baconz.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

This doesn't strike me as particularly conclusive research - I am suspicious because the scientists obviously wanted to prove a point, so observer bias might have played a role.

I am not saying it is impossible though, pigs are smart and in some aspect amusingly close to humans (even on the genetic level). Unfortunately there is no chance in hell we could actually ban pork globally.

When I made my recent thread, I saw that pigs were included somewhat in the group, but it explained why they were not conclusively so, and I excluded them for the very reasons you explained here.

I think I will he eating less pork from now on, though. Not that I ate terribly much to begin with. I hope they make kielbasa with beef, too....

 

[Dachs]

I think I will he eating less pork from now on, though. Not that I ate terribly much to begin with.

I thought the pulled pork sandwich was pretty decent, what about you?