The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots - Tapa dura

In that, her studies have relevance far beyond parrots. and rigorous a manner as is possible, under the circumstances of being both "parent" and investigator. pioneering works from Darwin's to E. O. Wilson's, its influence will be felt throughout the field of animal ethology for years to come. be accessible to a wide range of audiences, from researchers studying animal behavior to advanced undergraduates in a course that covers relevant material such as animal cognition or the capacities of language-trained animals. Alex's spectacular abilities were sensationalized in the news media, as though it were a talking parrot act. That obscured the significance of the studies, which is why "The Alex Studies" is important...[Irene Pepperberg has] done groundbreaking experiments, and bringing them together in a panoramic view is a great service...She describes simply what she did, and why and how her results compare with equivalent language-use and comprehension studies on chimps, marine mammals and children...She proves that animals have abilities greater than we are led to expect, but these can be revealed only by appropriate research tools. She succeeds where many others failed, and she convinces us that the details of investigative methods are what matter. The purpose is not to reveal Alex as a winged Einstein. Instead, she shows that complex mental operations are revealed only be precise methods that match the capabilities investigated. And she demonstrates remarkable parallels between parrots and huma Alex's abilities are extraordinary, and Pepperberg's investigation of them makes "The Alex Studies" essential for anyone interested in the wider issues it raises...As with other pioneering works from Darwin's to E. O. Wilson's, its influence will be felt throughout the field of animal ethology for years to come.--Caroline Fraser "Los Angeles Times " Pepperberg's work is admirably rigorous. Earlier work with language-trained animals was notorious for poor design and overly charitable interpretations of data. Pepperberg, by contrast, takes careful precautions against inadvertent cueing. She uses conservative estimates of chance when assessing the statistical reliability of Alex's responses, and she shows restraint when interpreting her results...Pepperberg has organized her book in a quasi-historical fashion, framing each phase of her research in terms of the contemporary work that inspired or informed it. Each chapter is devoted to a particular capacity or competence, such as numerical cognition, categorization, or the comprehension of words...From those who wish to read selectively (or for instructors who wish to assign only one or two chapters) it should be quite welcome because each chapter can stand on its own reasonably well...The book should be accessible to a wide range of audiences, from researchers studying animal behavior What distinguishes the work of Pepperberg from that of the majority of researchers working with language- trained apes is that she is truly interested in the underlying cognitive processes involved in her subject's behaviour. She thus asks questions...and then designs experiments to test the possibilities...this book represents a scholarly reporting of a scientist's quest to understand the mind of another species in as honest and rigorous a manner as is possible, under the circumstances of being both "parent" and investigator.--Michael Tomasello and Josep Call "Animal Behaviour "

Can a parrot understand complex concepts and mean what is says? Since the early s, most studies on animal-human communication have focused on great apes and a few cetacean species. Birds were rarely used in similar studies on the grounds that they were merely talented mimics -that they were, after all, "birdbrains". Experiments performed primarily on pigeons in Skinner boxes demonstrated capacities inferior to those of mammals; these results were thought to reflect the capacities of all birds, despite evidence suggesting that species such a s jays, crows, and parrots might be capable of more impressive cognitive feats. Twenty years ago Irene Pepperberg set out to discover whether the results of the pigeon studies necessarily meant that other birds -particularly the large-brained, highly social parrots - were incapable of mastering complex cognitive concepts and the rudiments of referential speech. her investigation and the bird at its centre - a male Grey parrot named Alex - have since become almost as well known as their primate equivalents and no less a subject of fierce debate in the field of animal cognition.