[Deathwatch] Alex, Renowned African Grey Parrot, 31

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Alex, The Renowned African Grey Parrot, Dies At 31

Science Daily ? Alex, the world renowned African Grey parrot made
famous by the ground-breaking cognition and communication research
conducted by Brandeis scientist Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D., died at the
age of 31 on September 6, 2007.

Dr. Pepperberg's pioneering research resulted in Alex the parrot
learning elements of English speech to identify 50 different objects, 7
colors, 5 shapes, quantities up to and including 6 and a zero-like
concept. 

Dr. Pepperberg?s pioneering research resulted in Alex learning elements
of English speech to identify 50 different objects, 7 colors, 5 shapes,
quantities up to and including 6 and a zero-like concept. He used
phrases such as ?I want X? and ?Wanna go Y?, where X and Y were
appropriate object and location labels.  He acquired concepts of
categories, bigger and smaller, same-different, and absence. Alex
combined his labels to identify, request, refuse, and categorize more
than 100 different items demonstrating a level and scope of cognitive
abilities never expected in an avian species.

Pepperberg says that Alex showed the emotional equivalent of a 2
year-old child and intellectual equivalent of a 5 year-old.

Her research with Alex shattered the generally held notion that parrots
are only capable of mindless vocal mimicry.

In 1973, Dr. Pepperberg was working on her doctoral thesis in
theoretical chemistry at Harvard University when she watched Nova
programs on signing chimps, dolphin communication and, most notably, on
why birds sing. She realized that the fields of avian cognition and
communication were not only of personal interest to her but relatively
uncharted territory. When she finished her thesis, she left the field
of chemistry to pursue a new direction?to explore the avian brain.

She decided to conduct her research with an African Grey parrot. In
order to assure she was working with a bird representative of its
species, she asked the shop owner to randomly choose any African Grey
from his collection. It was Alex. And so the one-year old Alex, his
name an acronym for the research project, Avian Learning EXperiment,
became an integral part of Pepperberg?s life and the pioneering studies
she was about to embark upon.

Over the course of 30 years of research, Dr. Pepperberg and Alex
revolutionized the notions of how birds think and communicate. What
Alex taught Dr. Pepperberg about cognition and communication has been
applied to therapies to help children with learning disabilities.
Alex?s learning process is based on the rival-model technique in which
two humans demonstrate to the bird what is to be learned.

Dr. Pepperberg will continue her innovative research program with
Griffin and Arthur, two other young African Grey parrots who have been
a part of the ongoing research program.

Alex has left a significant legacy?not only have he and Dr. Pepperberg
and their landmark experiments in modern comparative psychology changed
our views of the capabilities of avian minds, but they have forever
changed our perception of the term ?bird brains.?

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary