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 frocket rated 41 months ago - From the page: "We play the equivalent of shell games with our birds (like games at carnivals, where you hide an object under one of three cups and then switch the cups around), and both birds still find the hidden item. We did one study in which the procedure requires the experimenter to decei...
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11 Reviews
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- msiegel rated 5 months ago
- "want a nut!" Parrots have surprising intelligence, as these dedicated researchers have been finding out
- thefuzzymode rated 5 months ago
- From the page: "he sometimes will state every color but the correct one, behavior that suggests that he is carefully avoiding the right answer; statistically, he couldn't do that by chance." ....How excellent is that? (;o) I love this!
- marq101 rated 34 months ago
- My grandmother used to have a parrot called Thomas. He didn't talk but had his own way of letting you know he didn't like you..at all. He did scarry flyby's around your head. Great site, amazing what can be inferred from working with these animals. A lifetime study too since these parrots live to get very very old.
- culverin2 rated 41 months ago
- "A lot of people are interested in the work I'm doing. Certainly the primatologists and psychologists are interested, because of the comparative issue. Anthropologists, for the same reason. Ornithologists are becoming more interested as they realize how much intelligence birds need to survive in their ecological niches. Medical researchers are interested, because it turns out that the training techniques we use for the birds tend to work extremely well for autistic children..."
- Thar rated 41 months ago
- From the page: "Hey, stupid, do I have to spell it for you?"
- SFJOCKO rated 41 months ago
- Yeah! I'm glad to stumble upon this site. I've been following Alex and a few other gray parrots, and am amazed at some of what I've read, seen and heard.
N'kisi is another amazing bird.. Listen to the tape on this page: http://www.sheldrake.org/nkisi/nkisi1_text.html
You'll swear it's a child speaking.
- ChaosKitty rated 49 months ago
- Incredible--that last example will blow your mind.
- hopewind rated 49 months ago
- This is amazing. I'd heard a bit about Alex before, but this gave me a clearer idea of what's been happening in those studies. You should read it all the way to the end.
- frocket rated 41 months ago
- From the page: "We play the equivalent of shell games with our birds (like games at carnivals, where you hide an object under one of three cups and then switch the cups around), and both birds still find the hidden item. We did one study in which the procedure requires the experimenter to deceive the subject. You make believe that you're putting the object under one cup but you sneak it under another other or replace it with a less desirable item. So Alex goes over to where he expects the item to be, picks up the cup, and finds that the nut is not there; he starts banging his beak on the table and throwing the cups around. Such behavior shows that Alex knew that the object was supposed to be there, that it's not, and he's giving very clear evidence that he perceived something, and that his awareness and his expectations were violated. Griffin responds the same way."
- philigran rated 45 months ago
- Just reading the introduction by itself is fascinating: «if one starts with a brain of a certain complexity and gives it enough social and ecological support, that brain will develop at least the building blocks of a complex communication system. Of course, chimpanzees don't proceed to develop full-blown language the way you and I have. Grey parrots, such as Alex and Griffin, are never going to sit here and give an interview the way you and I are conducting an interview and having a chat. But they are going to produce meaningful, complex communicative combinations.»
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