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- 1. The Grey Parrot Paradox: Braniac or Bird-Brained? Meredith Dorfner Conservation and Wildlife Management 1
- 2. INTRODUCTION • A Brief History • General Information • Behavior • Alex the parrot and Dr. Pepperberg • Case Study #1 • Case Study #2 • Future Outlook • Conclusion 1
- 3. HISTORY Pets for more than 4,000 years • Egyptian hieroglyphics • Ancient Greeks & Romans • King Henry VIII • Portuguese sailors 2
- 4. 3
- 5. GENERAL INFORMATION • Psittacus erithacus Two recognized subspecies – Congo African Grey – Timneh African Grey • Herbivorous • Long lived • Relatively rare 4
- 6. Congo African Grey Parrot Timneh African Grey Parrot 5
- 7. 6
- 8. BEHAVIOR • Highly intelligent • Remarkable cognitive abilities • Duplicate human speech • Bond to one person • Can be temperamental and neurotic 7
- 9. 8
- 10. BRAIN SIMILARITIES 9
- 11. DR. IRENE M. PEPPERBERG • Brandeis University – Professor of psychology – Research scientist • Harvard University – Lecturer • More than 30 years experience – Fundamentals of animal communication – First to work with non-humans • African Grey Parrots – Cognitive and communicative abilities 10
- 12. 11
- 13. ALEX 1976-2007 • Avian Learning Experiment • Randomly chosen • Central subject of studies • Emotional and intellectual equivalent of a human child 12
- 14. 13
- 15. Grey Parrots Do Not Always ‘Parrot’: The Roles of Imitation and Phonological Awareness in the Creation of New Labels From Existing Vocalizations Brandeis University Department of Psychology Dr. Irene M. Pepperberg 2007 14
- 16. THE MODEL/RIVAL TECHNIQUE • Two trainers –Instructor –Model/Rival • Student –must reproduce correct behavior • Phonemes 15
- 17. VIDEO The Model/Rival Technique Extraordinary Animals - Parrot Genius http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzKcaaRu8iE 16
- 18. SUBJECTS • Arthur, age 3 1/2 –One year of M/R training –Four referential labels • Alex, age 27 –Twenty-six years of M/R training –Large variety of labels 17
- 19. PROCEDURE • Previous Model/Rival Technique training –Birds trained on the new word „spool‟ and it‟s meaning –Audio taped with microphone –Translated into sonograms 18
- 20. RESULTS • Both learned to say „spool‟ to refer to wooden or plastic bobbins – just got there in different ways! Arthur: whistle + /p/ + vowel sounds = whistle-p-ool Alex: /s/ + pause + wool = s-wool eventually became “spool” 19
- 21. SONOGRAM 20
- 22. Why have birds developed this ability? 21
- 23. Vocal Performance Influences Female Response to Male Bird Song: An Experimental Test by Barbara Ballentine, Jermey Hymen and Stephen Nowicki Duke University Department of Biology 2004 22
- 24. PROCEDURE • Captured Swamp Sparrows • Wide variety of male‟s songs recorded – varied in quality – trill rate used as point of reference • Played repeatedly for females – reactions documented 23
- 25. TRILL RATE 24
- 26. RESULTS “Sexy Songs” are better songs! Complexity = Virility = Fertility 25
- 27. CONCLUSION • Make more copies! • Advanced behavior • Not uniquely human • Dependent on learned experience • Noises of purpose and meaning • Not just “parroting”! 26
- 28. POSSIBILITIES • Model/Rival Technique – Autistic Children • Language • Numerical concepts • Empathy • Communicative competence in others • Reconsideration of evolutionary paths • Robotics Technology 27
- 29. ALEX’S LEGACY 28
- 30. 29
- 31. REFERENCES 1. Ballantine B, Hyman J, Nowicki S. 2004. Vocal performance influences female response to male bird song: An Experimental Test . Behavioral Ecology. Vol. 15 1:163-168. 2. Jarvis ED. 2007. Neural systems for vocal learning in birds and humans: a synopsis. Journal of Ornithology. 48:35-44. 3. Jarvis ED. 2006. Evolution of vocal learning systems in birds and humans. Kaas J, editor. Evolutions of Nervous Systems. 2:213-228. 4. Jarvis ED. 2006. Selection for and against vocal learning in birds and mammals. Ornithological Science. 5:5-14. 5. Pepperberg IM. 1994. Vocal learning in grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus): effects of social interaction, reference, and context. The Auk. 111(2):300-313. 6. Pepperberg IM. 2007. Grey parrots do not always ‘parrot’: the roles of imitation and phonological awareness in the creation of new labels from existing vocalizations. Language Sciences 29: 1-13. 7. Pepperberg IM. 2002. Cognitive and communicative abilities in grey parrots. Current Directions of Psychological Directions. Vol 2, No 3 83-87. 8. Phan ML, Pyette CL, Vicario, DS. 2006. Early auditory experience generates long-lasting memories that may subserve vocal learning in songbirds. PNAS 4: 1088-1093. 9. The Alex Foundation [Internet]. The Alex Foundation Research Publications: 2009 [cited March 25, 2010]. Available at http://www.alexfoundation.org/support_research.html. 10. YouTube [Internet]. Extraordinary Animals – Parrot Genius: 2009 [cited April 3, 2010]. Available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzKcaaRu8iE. 30
Editor's Notes
- Parrots kept as pets over 4,000 years agoClearly depicted Egyptian hieroglyphics depict parrots being kept as petsAncient Greeks & Romans kept African Grey Parrots as pets and prized them for their ability to talkKing Henry VIII of England had an African Grey as a petPortuguese sailors kept them as companions on long sea voyages
- Scientific Name: Psittacuserithacus (Psittacidae– true parrot)Two recognized subspeciesCongo African Grey - (P. erithacuserithacus)Timneh African Grey - (P. erithacustimneh)Rainforest of Central and Western AfricaGuinea-Bissau east to Kenya and Tanzania, and south to Angola Timneh restricted to western part of rangeOften near oil-palms on which they like to feedHerbivorous - seeds on a variety of fruits, nuts and seeds (Oils Palm)Average lifespan 50-60 yearsrarer than previously believeduplisted from a species of Least Concern to Near Threatened in the 2007 IUCN Red Listrecent analysis suggests that up to 21% of the global population may be taken from the wild annuallyprimarily for the pet trade.
- Congo African Grey – (P. erithacuserithacus) -Average 12- 14 inches in length -Predominantly grey -Black Beak -Bright Red tail feathersTimneh African Grey - (P. erithacustimneh) -Predominantly grey -Slightly smaller at 9-11 inches in length -Lighter colored beak -Darker maroon colored tail feathers
- endemic to primary and secondary rainforest of West and Central Africa
- Require constant stimulationCognitive abilities on par with that of a small childBegin talking around one year of age, some never talkNot only parrot capable of speech but…Greys have an uncanny ability to mimic human speech-wide variety of sounds with amazing accuracyGenerally bond to just one person-very jealous-tend to be shy or timid around strangers – Congo’s in particular Can be neurotic and temperamental behavioral issues when boredfeather plucking
- Examples of feather pluckingChest onlyMore advanced, full body
- Parrots, hummingbirds AND songbirdsSimilarity of the structures more important than their location in the brain:Circuitry (internal structures) -appears to be a fundamental feature -contributes to the production of: 1) complex cognitive functions 2) possibly to the associated experience of higher-level consciousness
- Animal cognition, language, communication -specifically with African Grey Parrots to determine their cognitive and communicative abilities -compare their abilities with those of great apes, marine mammals, and young childrenWorked intensively with a Alex (Arthur (Wort), Griffin) -set out to show that their vocal behavior has many of the characteristics of human language
- Alex, Arthur, Griffin
- Alex = Avian Learning Experiment-Central subject of Pepperberg’s studies-Purchased at pet store in Chicago in 1977 (randomly)Previously believed that needed a large primate brain to solve complex problemsParrots merely mimickingEmotional/Intellectual equivalent human child-Language abilities of two-year-Problem solving ability of five-year-150+ words -Identify 50 objects-Recognize quantities up to six, including zero-Could distinguish seven colors and five shapes-Understood several concepts of size and positionUnfortunately, his full potential was not realized by the time he died on Sepetember 6, 2007
- Alex in color id and number selection exp.
- PURPOSE - understands that his labels are comprised of individual units that can be recombined in new ways to create a novel referential vocalization. That he can: -uses English labels referentially -understands howlabels created from independent sounds sounds ->words -> phrases
- Two Trainers:-One to give instructions-One to model both correct and incorrect responses-Also acts as the student's rival for the trainer's attentionPhonemes- sounds that comprise words - hoped could conceptually relate an English written word with the spoken word.
- Reason for use of video-to show clear example of M/R Technique, easier to understand this wayVIDEO @ 7:25http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzKcaaRu8iEBriefly summarize video afterwards-You can see that…..
- Could identify, request, refuse, categorize, quantify large number of objects
- Arthur
- after one year of ocassional use, he spontaneously produced the word “spool” no intermediary formsoddly Alex never knew the sound /sp/
- Physical representations of sound (image)Used to identify phonetic sounds-analyze the cries of animalLook different
- Many scientists believe that this developed in order to attract more/better mates (“Sexy Songs”)Not just parrots mimic (many species of song bird)Vocal learning (different from auditory learning) – produce actual sound being heardDog may learn a command (“stay”), but will never say it backNext experiment provides some evidence
- PURPOSE - Provide evidence that female Swamp Sparrow uses vocal performance to:assess the quality of a potential mate that the ability of a male to sing more challenging or “sexy song” is indicator to the female of male condition
- 34 male Swamp Sparrows10 female Swamp SparrowsCaptured in Crawford County, PennsylvaniaSongs recorded from males -both high and low quality-Trill –shake, alternation between low and high notes (PLAY)Played repeatedly for femalesReactions were documented over two day period
- Variation in song more appealing!Trill rate – measured in terms of number of syllables produced per second -3 song types from one sparrow two, three and four distinct tones respectively -each comprising a single, repeatable syllable
- Verified thatsongs of the more exceptionally talented males preferred by the females -Females preferhigh-performance song typesSupports hypothesis that females Swamp Sparrows may use vocal performance to asses males in context of mate choiceExemplifying the main purpose of a good speaker/singer -difficulty may be determined by complexity as well as volume -likely reflects on future paternity volume of male -corresponds with mating preferences in several species
- Happens in several languagesProve imitation is a complex/advanced behavior worthy of further investigationNot just “Parroting”, but an advanced learning skill
- Questioning general evolutionCommunicative competence in special needs peopleSome researchers believe thatM/R -promise for teaching autistic -other learning-disabled children difficulty learning language numerical concepts empathy *Training with kids already exceeded expectations.
- Based out of Brandeis in Waltham, MassGoals: -support research -expand the base of knowledge ofcognitive/communicative abilities of parrots -reinforceintelligent beingsFindings will be used to encourage -responsible ownership of parrots -conservation and preservation of parrots in the wild -veterinary research into the psychological diseases and care of these birdsMemory of Alexwill live on -accomplish its mission to improve the lives of all parrots worldwide