Research reveals that farm animals including pigs, cows, chickens, and sheep have complex cognitive abilities that challenge simplistic views of their mental lives.
The cognitive abilities of farm animals have been systematically underestimated, partly because research assumptions and methods have not been designed to elicit complex performance. As animal cognition researchers apply more sophisticated methods to farm species, they consistently find more complexity than expected. Chickens show surprise at impossible object permanence violations. Cows remember and avoid handling experiences that were aversive. Pigs learn by watching other pigs and can transfer learned skills to new contexts. This body of research has implications for both welfare standards and public understanding. Animals with richer cognitive lives are capable of more complex forms of suffering and more complex forms of positive experience.