Alex, a Parrot Who Had a Way With Words, Dies
Mike Lovett/Brandeis University
Alex, a 31-year-old African gray parrot, knew more than 100 words and could count and recognize colors and shapes.
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: September 10, 2007
He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established himself in TV shows, scientific reports, and news articles as perhaps the worlds most famous talking bird.
But last week Alex, an African Grey parrot, died, apparently of natural causes, said Dr. Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist at Brandeis University and Harvard who studied and worked with the parrot for most of its life and published reports of his progress in scientific journals. The parrot was 31.
Scientists have long debated whether any other species can develop the ability to learn human language. Alexs language facility was, in some ways, more surprising than the feats of primates that have been taught American Sign Language, like Koko the gorilla, trained by Penny Patterson at the Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org in Woodside, Calif., or Washoe the chimpanzee, studied by R. Allen and Beatrice Gardner at the University of Nevada in the 1960s and 1970s.
When, in 1977, Dr. Pepperberg, then a doctoral student in chemistry at Harvard, bought Alex from a pet store, scientists had little expectation that any bird could learn to communicate with humans. Most of the research had been done in pigeons, and was not promising.
But by using novel methods of teaching, Dr. Pepperberg prompted Alex to learn about 150 words, which he could put into categories, and to count small numbers, as well as colors and shapes. The work revolutionized the way we think of bird brains, said Diana Reiss, a psychologist at Hunter College who works with dolphins and elephants. That used to be a pejorative, but now we look at those brains at least Alexs with some awe.
Other scientists, while praising the research, cautioned against characterizing Alexs abilities as human. The parrot learned to communicate in basic expressions but it did not show the sort of logic and ability to generalize that children acquire at an early age, they said. Theres no evidence of recursive logic, and without that you cant work with digital numbers or more complex human grammar, said David Premack, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Pepperberg used an innovative approach to teach Alex. African Greys are social birds, and pick up some group dynamics very quickly. In experiments, Dr. Pepperberg would employ one trainer to, in effect, compete with Alex for a small reward, like a grape. Alex learned to ask for the grape by observing what the trainer was doing to get it; the researchers then worked with the bird to help shape the pronunciation of the words.
Alex showed surprising facility. For example, when shown a blue paper triangle, he could tell an experimenter what color the paper was, what shape it was, and after touching it what it was made of. He demonstrated off some of his skills on nature shows, including programs on the BBC and PBS. He famously shared scenes with the actor Alan Alda on the PBS series, Look Whos Talking.
Like parrots can, he also picked up one-liners from hanging around the lab, like calm down, and good morning. He could express frustration, or apparent boredom, and his cognitive and language skills appeared to be about as competent as those in trained primates. His accomplishments have also inspired further work with African Grey parrots; two others, named Griffin and Arthur, are a part of Dr. Pepperbergs continuing research program.
Even up through last week, Alex was working with Dr. Pepperberg on compound words and hard-to-pronounce words. As she put him into his cage for the night last Thursday, Dr. Pepperberg said, Alex looked at her and said: You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.
He was found dead in his cage the next morning, and was determined to have died late Thursday night.
Alex, a 31-year-old African gray parrot, knew more than 100 words and could count and recognize colors and shapes.
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: September 10, 2007
He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established himself in TV shows, scientific reports, and news articles as perhaps the worlds most famous talking bird.
But last week Alex, an African Grey parrot, died, apparently of natural causes, said Dr. Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist at Brandeis University and Harvard who studied and worked with the parrot for most of its life and published reports of his progress in scientific journals. The parrot was 31.
Scientists have long debated whether any other species can develop the ability to learn human language. Alexs language facility was, in some ways, more surprising than the feats of primates that have been taught American Sign Language, like Koko the gorilla, trained by Penny Patterson at the Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org in Woodside, Calif., or Washoe the chimpanzee, studied by R. Allen and Beatrice Gardner at the University of Nevada in the 1960s and 1970s.
When, in 1977, Dr. Pepperberg, then a doctoral student in chemistry at Harvard, bought Alex from a pet store, scientists had little expectation that any bird could learn to communicate with humans. Most of the research had been done in pigeons, and was not promising.
But by using novel methods of teaching, Dr. Pepperberg prompted Alex to learn about 150 words, which he could put into categories, and to count small numbers, as well as colors and shapes. The work revolutionized the way we think of bird brains, said Diana Reiss, a psychologist at Hunter College who works with dolphins and elephants. That used to be a pejorative, but now we look at those brains at least Alexs with some awe.
Other scientists, while praising the research, cautioned against characterizing Alexs abilities as human. The parrot learned to communicate in basic expressions but it did not show the sort of logic and ability to generalize that children acquire at an early age, they said. Theres no evidence of recursive logic, and without that you cant work with digital numbers or more complex human grammar, said David Premack, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Pepperberg used an innovative approach to teach Alex. African Greys are social birds, and pick up some group dynamics very quickly. In experiments, Dr. Pepperberg would employ one trainer to, in effect, compete with Alex for a small reward, like a grape. Alex learned to ask for the grape by observing what the trainer was doing to get it; the researchers then worked with the bird to help shape the pronunciation of the words.
Alex showed surprising facility. For example, when shown a blue paper triangle, he could tell an experimenter what color the paper was, what shape it was, and after touching it what it was made of. He demonstrated off some of his skills on nature shows, including programs on the BBC and PBS. He famously shared scenes with the actor Alan Alda on the PBS series, Look Whos Talking.
Like parrots can, he also picked up one-liners from hanging around the lab, like calm down, and good morning. He could express frustration, or apparent boredom, and his cognitive and language skills appeared to be about as competent as those in trained primates. His accomplishments have also inspired further work with African Grey parrots; two others, named Griffin and Arthur, are a part of Dr. Pepperbergs continuing research program.
Even up through last week, Alex was working with Dr. Pepperberg on compound words and hard-to-pronounce words. As she put him into his cage for the night last Thursday, Dr. Pepperberg said, Alex looked at her and said: You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.
He was found dead in his cage the next morning, and was determined to have died late Thursday night.
Alex the parrot.
