Pigs are among the most cognitively sophisticated farmed animals, and research into their learning and behavior has profound welfare implications.
The cognitive sophistication of pigs makes the conditions of intensive pig farming ethically stark. Animals capable of self-recognition, optimistic or pessimistic thinking based on their environment, and rich social learning are not simply commodity units but sentient individuals with complex inner lives. When pigs are kept in barren, overcrowded conditions that prevent exploration, play, and social expression, they are experiencing an impoverished existence that their cognitive capacities make all the more distressing. Welfare improvements grounded in cognitive science — providing environmental complexity that challenges and rewards curious minds, social structures that allow meaningful relationships, and positive interactions with humans — have documented benefits for both welfare and productivity.