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Encyclopedia > Alex (parrot)

Alex

Born 1976
Died September 6, 2007
Brandeis University
Waltham, Massachusetts, U.S.
Sudden death secondary to arterosclerosis
Known for Talking parrot

Alex (1976 - September 6, 2007[1]) was an African Grey Parrot and the subject of a thirty-year (1977-2007) experiment by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg, initially at the University of Arizona and later at Harvard and Brandeis University. Pepperberg bought Alex in a regular pet shop when he was about one year old.[2] The name Alex is actually an acronym for Avian Learning EXperiment.[3] Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Brandeis University is a private university located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. ... One of the early centers of the Industrial Revolution in northern America, Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. ... For other uses of terms redirecting here, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation) Motto In God We Trust(since 1956) (From Many, One; Latin, traditional) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City National language English (de facto)1 Demonym American... Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting arterial blood vessels. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Psittacus erithacus erithacus Linnaeus, 1758 Psittacus erithacus timneh Fraser, 1844 and see text The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is a medium-sized parrot of the genus Psittacus, endemic to primary and secondary rainforest of West and Central Africa, and is considered one of the... Comparative psychology, taken in its most usual, broad, sense, refers in to the study of the behaviour and mental life of animals other than human beings. ... Dr. Irene Pepperberg (born April 1, 1949, Brooklyn, New York) is a scientist noted for her studies in animal cognition, particularly in relation to parrots. ... The University of Arizona (UA or U of A) is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... Brandeis University is a private university located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. ...


Before Pepperberg's work with Alex, it was widely believed in the scientific community that birds were not intelligent and could only use words by mimicking, but Alex's accomplishments indicated that birds may be able to reason on a basic level and use words creatively.[4] Pepperberg wrote that Alex's intelligence was on a par with that of dolphins and great apes.[5] She also reported that Alex had the intelligence of a five-year-old human[3] and had not reached his full potential by the time he died.[6] She said that the bird had the emotional level of a human two-year-old at the time of his death.[7] For other uses, see Dolphin (disambiguation). ... Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The Hominids (Hominidae) are a biological family which includes humans, extinct species of humanlike creatures and the other great apes...


Alex's death came as a complete surprise; the average life span for African grey parrots is fifty years.[8][6] He had appeared healthy the day before, and was found dead in the morning.[1] According to a press release issued by the Alex Foundation, "Alex was found to be in good health at his most recent annual physical about two weeks [before his death]. According to the vet who conducted the necropsy, there was no obvious cause of death."[1][3] According to Pepperberg, Alex's loss will not halt the research but will be a large setback.[3] The lab has two other birds, but their skills do not approach Alex's.[3]


On October 4, 2007 The Alex Foundation posted the Pathology results: "Alex died quickly. He had a sudden, unexpected catastrophic event associated with arterosclerosis ("hardening of the arteries"). It was either a fatal arrhythmia, heart attack or stroke, which caused him to die suddenly with no suffering. There was no way to predict his demise. All of his tests, including his cholesterol level and asper levels, came back normal earlier that week. His death could not be connected to his current diet or his age; our veterinarian said that she has seen similar events in young (<10 year old) birds on healthy diets. Most likely, genetics or the same kind of low-level (impossible to detect in birds as yet) inflammatory disease that is related to heart disease in humans was responsible." Atherosclerosis is a disease affecting arterial blood vessels. ...

Contents

Accomplishments

Pepperberg, listing Alex's accomplishments in 1999, said he could identify fifty different objects and recognize quantities up to six; that he could distinguish seven colors and five shapes, and understand the concepts of "bigger", "smaller", "same", and "different," and that he was learning "over" and "under".[2] Alex had a vocabulary of about 150 words,[9] but was exceptional in that he appeared to have understanding of what he said. For example, when Alex was shown an object and was asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. If asked the difference between two objects, he also answered that, but if there was no difference between the objects, he said “none.” When he was tired of being tested, he would say “I’m gonna go away,” and if the researcher displayed annoyance, Alex tried to defuse it with the phrase, “I’m sorry.” If he said “Wanna banana”, but was offered a nut instead, he stared in silence, asked for the banana again, or took the nut and threw it at the researcher. When asked questions in the context of research testing, he gave the correct answer approximately 80 percent of the time.[10] For other uses, see Word (disambiguation). ...


Preliminary research also seems to indicate that Alex could carry over the concept of four blue balls of wool on a tray to four notes from a piano. Dr. Pepperberg was also training him to recognize the Arabic numeral “4” as “four.” Arabic numerals (also called Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals) are by far the most common form of symbolism used to represent numbers. ...


In July 2005, Pepperberg reported that Alex had the concept of zero.[11] For other senses of this word, see zero or 0. ...


Dr. Pepperberg was training the bird to recognize English phonemes, in the hopes that he would conceptually relate an English written word with the spoken word.[12] He could identify sounds made by two-letter combinations such as SH and OR.[12] The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... In human language, a phoneme is the theoretical representation of a sound. ...


Criticisms

Some in the scientific community are highly skeptical of Pepperberg's findings, pointing to Alex's alleged use of language as operant conditioning.[3] Critics point to the case of Clever Hans, a horse who could apparently count, but who was actually taking subtle cues from his trainer.[2] In another case, Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee named after Noam Chomsky, was thought to be using language but later shown to have been imitating his teacher.[2] Dr. Herbert Terrace, who had worked with Nim Chimpsky, says he thinks Alex performed by rote rather than using language; he calls Alex's responses "a complex discriminative performance."[2] Operant conditioning is the use of consequences to modify the occurrence and form of behavior. ... Clever Hans performs Clever Hans (in German, der Kluge Hans) was a horse that was apparently trained to perform arithmetic and other intellectual tasks. ... Nim Chimpsky (November 21, 1973 – March 10, 2000) was a chimpanzee who was the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition (codenamed 6. ... Avram Noam Chomsky (Hebrew: אברם נועם חומסקי) (born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer. ...


Selected quotes

  • "Holding a colored cloth ball in front of the bird, Pepperberg asks What matter? in the kind of laboratory pidgin she uses to train her subjects. Alex - who can identify wood, plastic, metal and paper, among other matter - clearly says wool. Having answered correctly, he's entitled to a reward - but he has to ask for it. Unlike animals in conventional conditioning experiments, he gets nothing unless he asks for it by name, after having given a right answer to a question. Want a nut, he says, and then happily begins nibbling away at the cashew he is given."[12]
  • "When Dr Pepperberg left Alex with a vet for treatment, Alex vocalized the words 'Come here. I love you. I'm sorry. I want to go back.'"[13][14]
  • According to Dr. Pepperberg, the final time she saw Alex was on Thursday September 6. They went through their goodnight routine in which she told him it was time to go in the cage. She recalls that Alex said "You be good. I love you." She responded, "I love you, too." He said "You'll be in tomorrow," and she responded, "Yes, I'll be in tomorrow."[3][6][9]
  • Upon first being presented with a red apple, and having learned no word for the fruit, Alex coined a new word: “banerry”. This word is generally considered a portmanteau of the two fruits “banana” (for the texture of the interior) and “cherry” (for the color and shape). Dr. Pepperberg considered this an example of “complex two-way communication”, wherein Alex was translating a concept as he understood it into a form comprehensible to humans by using his limited English vocabulary. This concept also translated when Alex referred to a green apple as a "banerry".

This article is about simplified languages. ... Binomial name L. The Cashew (Anacardium occidentale; syn. ... is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... A portmanteau (IPA: ) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning. ...

References

  1. ^ a b c The Alex Foundation (2007-09-10). Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e Smith, Dinitia (October 9, 1999), "A Thinking Bird or Just Another Birdbrain?", New York Times: A1, <http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E17F73A550C7A8CDDA90994D1494D81&showabstract=1>. Retrieved on September 11, 2007
  3. ^ a b c d e f g David Chandler (September 11, 2007) Farewell to a famous parrot: Alex, who could talk and count, dies at 31. Retrieved on September 11, 2007.
  4. ^ Scientific American (September 12, 2007), An Interview with Alex, the African Grey Parrot. sciam.com. Retrieved on September 12, 2007.
  5. ^ Irene Pepperberg (1998), Talking with Alex: Logic and speech in parrots. Scientific American Retrieved on September 12, 2007.
  6. ^ a b c "Bird Brain Dies After Years of Research", USA Today via Associated Press, September 11, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-10-31. “Alex, a parrot that could count to six, identify colors and even express frustration with repetitive scientific trials, has died after 30 years of helping researchers better understand the avian brain.” 
  7. ^ All Things Considered (September 10, 2007), Alex the Parrot, an Apt Student, Passes Away. npr.org. Retrieved on September 11, 2007.
  8. ^ Bird brain Alex the parrot dies
  9. ^ a b Benedict Carey (September 10, 2007), Alex, a Parrot Who Had a Way With Words, Dies. New York Times. Retrieved on September 11, 2007.
  10. ^ Ask the Scientists: Irene Pepperberg Q&A. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  11. ^ Researchers explore whether parrot has concept of zero. Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  12. ^ a b c David Chandler (May 18 1998), This bird talks, counts, and reads - a little. Boston Globe. Retrieved on September 13, 2007.
  13. ^ Julie Rack. Why Does My Bird Do That - A Guide To Parrot Behaviour.
  14. ^ Christopher Lehman-Haupt (May 15, 1995), BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Animals Can't Talk, but Can They Feel? New York Times. Retrieved on September 13, 2007.

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boston Globe is the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts and in the greater New England region. ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

See also

Talking birds are birds who can imitate human speech. ... WPA poster by Kenneth Whitley, 1939 The talking animal or speaking animal term, in general, refers to any form of animal which can talk or conduct speech. ... This article is about a parrot. ... Koko (born July 4, 1971, in San Francisco, California) is the name of a gorilla trained by Dr. Francine Penny Patterson and other scientists at Stanford University to communicate with more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language, and understand approximately 2,000 words of spoken English. ... Washoe (around September of 1965[1] - October 30, 2007) was a chimpanzee who was the first non-human to learn American Sign Language. ... Animal language is the modeling of human language in non human animal systems. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): Alex The Grey Parrot, Colleague of Irene Pepperberg, Dead at 31 (4348 words)
Alex had always been a healthy parrot, however, he once was gravely ill with aspergillosis, an infection of the lungs and other body tissues caused by the fungus, Aspergillus [free PDF (scroll down) and PDF] (my own experience with aspergillosis in parrots is that is is nearly impossible to cure).
Pepperberg named him "ALEX", the acronym for the research project, Avian Learning EXperiment, was randomly chosen by the shopowner from his collection of African grey parrots at Pepperberg's request, since she sought a bird that was an average representative of its species.
Alex's learning process is based on the rival-model technique in which two humans demonstrate to the bird what is to be learned.
Science News Blog * Science News and Trends * (5209 words)
Alex was raised and taught by Dr. Irene Pepperberg and her staff.
Alex, the world renowned African Grey parrot made famous by the ground-breaking cognition and communication research conducted by Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D., died at the age of 31 on September 6, 2007.
Her research with Alex shattered the generally held notion that parrots are only capable of mindless vocal mimicry.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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