Word: pepperberg
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...While John Grogan’s “Marley & Me” may have been the cannon’s former standard, Irene Pepperberg’s recently published book “Alex & Me” has taken the ode to animal affection to a new level. Pepperberg, a professor of psychology at Brandeis and part-time lecturer at Harvard, recounts the story of her relationship with Alex, a grey parrot that was the subject of her research for the past 30 years. Although he was kept in a cage and had an acronym name...
THOSE FAMILIAR WITH the cognitive skills of African gray parrot Alex will never again use birdbrain as an insult. With help from researcher Irene Pepperberg, Alex learned to communicate, fueling debate over other species' ability to learn human language. He knew 100 words and could count, express frustration and differentiate among some colors, shapes and textures. His last words to Pepperberg: "You be good. See you tomorrow. I love...
...animal-language experiments had an awards dinner, the prize for best accent would go to the befeathered Alex. The parrot acquired his Midwestern accent from his mentor, Pepperberg. She became intrigued by the language work with great apes in the 1970s and decided to examine the abilities of an animal with an entirely different brain structure. She chose parrots in part because they can actually talk and because studies had established that the birds could perform as well as chimps on some psychological tests, suggesting that brain size is not the only determinant of mental ability...
Like Kanzi, Alex learned his vocabulary in a social setting, though the approach was more contrived. Pepperberg would, for instance, show a student a cork (one of Alex's favorite objects). If the student said the word cork, Pepperberg would give it to her; but when another word was used, the student would be scolded. Alex quickly got the drift of this game, and over the years has acquired more than 71 labels denoting objects, actions, colors, shapes and materials. Apart from answering several different questions about the same object, Alex also seems to understand quantity. Most impressively...
...some level, Alex apparently understands language as a social interaction and uses it to maintain contact and get attention. "The way Alex uses English does not necessarily have all the aspects of language," says Pepperberg, "but it provides a two-way communication system that allows me to explore the way he thinks." At times his choice of words is touchingly apt, even if he uses phrases to get results rather than express emotion. When the parrot, who lives with Pepperberg, became sick a few years ago, she had to take him to a vet and leave him overnight...