That Damn Bird

[Ladyhawk]

That Damn Bird

Dr. Irene Pepperberg reports on Alex and Griffin, her two "research" parrots:

There are some things that the birds do that, colloquially speaking, "just blow us away." We were training Alex to sound out phonemes, not because we want him to read as humans do, but we want to see if he understands that his labels are made up of sounds that can be combined in different ways to make up new words; that is, to demonstrate evidence for segmentation. He babbles at dusk, producing strings like "green, cheen, bean, keen", so we have some evidence for this behavior, but we need more solid data.

Thus we are trying to get him to sound out refrigerator letters, the same way one would train children on phonics. We were doing demos at the Media Lab for our corporate sponsors; we had a very small amount of time scheduled and the visitors wanted to see Alex work. So we put a number of differently colored letters on the tray that we use, put the tray in front of Alex, and asked, "Alex, what sound is blue?" He answers, "Ssss." It was an "s", so we say "Good birdie" and he replies, "Want a nut."

Well, I don't want him sitting there using our limited amount of time to eat a nut, so I tell him to wait, and I ask, "What sound is green?" Alex answers, "Ssshh." He's right, it's "sh," and we go through the routine again: "Good parrot." "Want a nut." "Alex, wait. What sound is orange?" "ch." "Good bird!" "Want a nut." We're going on and on and Alex is clearly getting more and more frustrated. He finally gets very slitty-eyed and he looks at me and states, "Want a nut. Nnn, uh, tuh."

Not only could you imagine him thinking, "Hey, stupid, do I have to spell it for you?" but the point was that he had leaped over where we were and had begun sounding out the letters of the words for us. This was in a sense his way of saying to us, "I know where you're headed! Let's get on with it," which gave us the feeling that we were on the right track with what we were doing. These kinds of things don't happen in the lab on a daily basis, but when they do, they make you realize there's a lot more going on inside these little walnut-sized brains than you might at first imagine.

Sorry, I crossposted this, but I thought it would be of general interest. :) Fascinating stuff.

[BikeWriter]

1. Alex for President!

[Ladyhawk]

2. Yeah, he's definitely more more intelligent than the misunderestimator. nt

[DELUSIONAL]

3. Irene's work is really great for those of us who live with animals

What's interesting is that Alex has the same accent as she does -- sort of a N.Y. accent.

He also puts words together in rhymes.

She's had to battle a lot of ignorant human psychologists through the years.

Also she is a very nice person. Sometimes when you meet someone whose work you've studied -- well they just don't match up with your mental image. Irene is a nice person -- in person.

[Ladyhawk]

4. She's a very nice person. I talked with her on the phone once

when I was taking a class on how to teach "exceptional" children. She described in detail the model / rival technique she uses with Alex and how it works equally well with autistic children. Since the rate of autism has skyrocketed, this may turn out to be important research. Of course, a CURE would be the best thing, but until then, we need to reach these children any way we can. Dr. Pepperberg's research may help a generation of autistic children.

I was using Dr. Pepperberg as a source for a paper I was writing and unfortunately, the professor didn't think my paper was worth sharing in front of the rest of the class. I got pissed enough that he changed his mind. :D That has been many years ago and I have no idea where that paper is. Since then, Dr. Pepperberg has switched universities twice, so the contact information--wherever it is--is no good.

I do remember how helpful Dr. Pepperberg was. I did get to share Dr. Pepperberg's research with the class. I also got an "A." PTHTHTHT. :D

She's a wonderful person. Not only has she proven that parrots are more than just feathered mimics, she has extrapolated her research to help others. In her latest foray, she has taken on the pet bird boredom issue by hooking up with computer programmers. Hopefully, interactive computer toys will be available to all pet birds. :) A "busy box" input device and some software could convert a reasonably-priced computer into an entertainment center for bored pet birds. Lately I've been thinking about ways to make Gabby's life more exciting. Once my move is completed, I'm going to build Gabby the play area of his dreams. :)

[Ladyhawk]

5. Note: she's also had to battle some ignorant linguists. :)

I noticed that Noam Chomsky's name came up and that she proved him wrong on something...heh heh...great stuff! I like Chomsky, but it's always good for the famous to get taken down a peg or two. It keeps them from getting inflated heads. :)