MadSci Network: General Biology |
In order to characterize intelligence in any species of animal it is useful to first define intelligence. Traditionally, an animals ability to communicate with others animals both within and outside of its own species is considered a hallmark of intelligence. There are many different species of parrots, and probably due to their uncanny ability to mimic our voices by repeating endless strings of "Polly want a cracker!" much research has been done to investigate just how much parrots really understand. It is my understanding that the larger parrot species tend to be more intelligent. Of these, the African Grey parrot is regarded to be the most intelligent of the parrot species. A researcher named Irene Pepperberg, taught her African Grey to recognize by sight over 35 objects. But what is so amazing about this is that Alex can actually categorize new objects. For instance, when he is shown objects like two apples versus an apple and an orange, he can communicate to researchers whether the objects are the same or different. He is capable of distinguishing shapes, colors, various shades of the same color, and responds to commands to perform certain tasks. The researchers showed that once Alex was taught a new word or task, that he was capable of using this information in a new way by applying it to a situation where he was not taught the correct response or action. This is the underlying significance of communication and hence intelligence. This is pretty cool! Alex, and parrots trained to have a large vocabulary, have the ability to convey meaningful information to people. A lot of findings suggest that parrots are among the more intelligent animal species; right up there with dolphins. Understanding the extent of parrot intelligence requires that people find a way to bridge the communication gap. Either we learn to speak parrot or, like we are doing, we teach parrots to speak our language. Just like a child, the larger vocabulary a parrot has the better able he or she is to communicate with us. If you want to read more about Alex here is the web site http://www.mecca.org/~rporter/PARROTS/grey_al.html
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