false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179484140m/921927.jpg 921927 2 When Irene Pepperberg, a professor at the University of Arizona, says goodnight, she typically hears the reply "Bye. I'm gonna go eat dinner. I'll see you tomorrow." Though the response itself is not unusual, the source is, for it comes from Alex, a gray parrot, Pepperberg's main research subject for the past 22 years. That parrots can talk is well known; what Pepperberg set out to study was their cognitive abilities. By teaching the bird the meaning--not just the sound--of words in order to communicate, she hoped to discover how his brain worked. She exhaustively details her fascinating results in <I>The Alex Studies</I>.<p> Pepperberg bought Alex--a parrot of average intelligence and without lofty pedigree or training--from a pet store when he was 1. Since working with Pepperberg, he has developed a 100-word vocabulary and can identify 50 different objects, recognizing quantities up to six, distinguishing seven colors and five shapes, and understanding the difference between big and small, same and different, over and under. He can tell you, for instance, that corn is yellow even if there is no corn in view, as well as correctly select the square object among various shapes and identify it verbally. What this all means, stresses Pepperberg, is that Alex is not merely parroting but actually thinking; he bases answers on reason rather than instinct or mimicry.<p> Though the anecdotes are rich and Alex makes a lively subject, this is principally a research paper relying on intricate details and a prodigious amount of data (the notes and references alone run to 79 pages). This is not light reading, particularly for the layperson. Still, <I>The Alex Studies</I> manages to be more than a valuable contribution to science, for in providing ample evidence of our similarities to other creatures, the book ultimately calls into question the concept of human supremacy over the animal kingdom. Pepperberg's stated goal is "to provoke awareness in humans that animals have capacities that are far greater than we were once led to expect, and to remind us that all we need to examine these capacities are some enlightened research tools." She has provided such tools in this seminal work. <I>--Shawn Carkonen</I> 906956 2000 The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots total:14|5:6|4:6|3:2|2:0|1:0| 14 60 55 2 4 1 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 20:06:27 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 20:15:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 22 16:35:25 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 20:00:18 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Sat Nov 21 14:38:53 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 21 14:38:53 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sat Nov 14 13:21:58 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 14 13:21:58 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 08:36:49 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 08:36:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 16 13:01:11 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 13:01:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Oct 01 19:42:37 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 01 19:42:37 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Sep 10 19:46:38 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 19:46:38 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Sep 10 11:52:50 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 11:53:35 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Sep 01 17:15:49 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 01 17:15:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 30 17:37:26 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 17:37:26 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 24 17:38:13 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 24 17:38:13 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Aug 20 09:13:15 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 09:13:15 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Aug 19 12:44:44 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 12:44:44 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Aug 02 19:07:19 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 19:07:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jul 25 20:20:33 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 25 20:20:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 15 08:56:11 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 08:56:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat May 09 10:41:33 -0700 2009 Sat May 09 10:41:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Apr 08 12:18:09 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 12:18:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Apr 03 22:38:49 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 22:38:52 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=921927