Motivation in cognitive tests and its outcome on test performance in pigs

Area of Science:

• Animal Cognition
• Animal Behaviour
• Animal Welfare Science

Background:

• Animal motivation can influence cognitive test performance, potentially masking true abilities.
• Understanding the interplay between motivation and competence is crucial for accurate cognitive assessments.
• Environmental enrichment is known to affect animal behavior and may impact motivation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate pig motivation for cognitive tasks.
• To determine if pig motivation relates to their cognitive performance.
• To assess the impact of housing conditions (barren vs. enriched) and housing switches on pig motivation and cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

• 128 pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) aged 9-17 weeks were housed in barren, enriched, or switched conditions (enriched-to-barren, barren-to-enriched).
• Motivation was assessed by measuring the time taken for pigs to voluntarily enter a test arena, using a motivation score (0-7) and duration.
• Cognitive performance was evaluated using a spatial 16-hole holeboard task, assessing acquisition, reversal, and long-term memory, with trial duration as a performance metric.

Main Results:

• Pigs generally exhibited high motivation, which increased with repeated testing (lower motivation scores and shorter durations).
• Enriched housing conditions positively influenced motivation during the reversal phase, with enriched pigs showing higher motivation and faster entry times.
• While motivation did not correlate with reference or working memory scores, higher motivation was associated with shorter cognitive task trial durations.

Conclusions:

• Pigs are highly motivated to engage in cognitive tasks, with motivation increasing over repeated exposures.
• Environmental enrichment and lighter body weight appear to enhance pig motivation for cognitive tasks.
• Despite influencing motivation, individual and environmental factors do not solely predict cognitive performance in pigs, suggesting a complex relationship between motivation and competence.