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ALEX THE AFRICAN GREY |
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Dr. Irene Pepperberg purchased Alex, an African Grey
parrot, in a pet store in Chicago when
he was about 1 year of age. She wanted
to work a bit with the bird to further her understanding of birds – an
interest she had from childhood.
Twenty-two years later the two wow the world with the achievements. Alex
now
belongs to the University of Arizona where Dr. Pepperberg’s
studies continue with Alex and other African Greys. Alex uses reason and choice when he talks –
by some definitions he communicates. I
buy that definition! But, since we
still have scientists that argue that dogs have no emotions ( a step up from those who once
claimed they had no feelings in spite of screams of pain when operated on
without benefit of anesthesia!) be assured there is much controversy about
what Alex really does and does not do.
Decide for yourself. He can identify 50
different objects and quantities up to 6.
He can distinguish 7 colors and 5 shapes, bigger/smaller, same and
different, and knows the material the objects are made of. With no corn visible when asked: What color corn? he
responds correctly. Bigger and
smaller? Same and different? These are amazing achievements! Not long ago he had a bad
day following a 3 week absence by Dr. Pepperberg. This stresses Alex greatly and he was not
much interested in performing for an interview of particular value to their
program at the University. When he was
asked: “ What
matter is orange and 3 cornered? he picked up the
correct item with his beak and then said:
Wan’ a nut! He was not
interested in giving the verbal response Dr. P. was seeking. She was pressed for time and did not
produce the nut. He then said: Wanna go back! meaning return to his cage. Still being pressed for cooperation to
demonstrate to the important interviewer Alex finally made the sounds Nnnnnnn, Uuuuuuuu, Tttttttttt! He spelled nut! This latter action on his
part was presented by Dr. Pepperberg in a speech I
heard her give. She said they had been
working on teaching the sounds of letters but had never asked him to spell
anything. He put that together all by
himself. When pressed a bit more by
the doctor with a “C’mom Alex”, he replied “I’m sorry” and named the
material – wool. One day when Dr. P. was
working with letter sound identification with another African Grey who wasn’t
doing so well Alex apparently got frustrated and finally made the sound Ssssss while she help up the letter. She told him he was a buttinsky! Scientists don’t like to be
told that a valid reason for what an animal does is the possibility that it
does it with any consciousness. Many
doubt that Alex is “communicating” and that unseen signals are being
given. Dr. Pepperberg
attributes Alex’s ability to reason and process complex information to her
training methods. Initial training
efforts based on theories of how animals learn such as positive reinforcement
did not give good results. She
developed a system where she works with a graduate student while Alex
observes. A typical session would be
for her to tell the student to select a 3 sided orange object and say what
the object is made of. The correct
response is rewarded with the object rather than, in the case of parrots, a
highly desirable grape. She does the same thing with Alex and the other birds
– they get what they have “earned”, so to speak. But, of course, Alex is going to hold out
for the nut or grape when opportunity knocks! Similar methods are now being
used successfully with autistic children and children with other learning
disabilities. When Dr. Pepperberg applied for her first grant from the National
Institute of Health to study bird behavior she said “there were reviewers
asking me what I was smoking”. M |