Parrots can count to zero
12 July 2005
by Richard
Conan-Davies
|
Most of us know that parrots are pretty clever at mimicking human words and now it seems that they are able to include the concept of zero when they count objects. A 28 year old Grey African Parrot called Alex living at the psychology department at Brandeis University, USA showed researchers that he could say "none" when there was a set of objects missing. The study led by Dr. Irene Pepperberg has been published in the current issue of The Journal of Comparative Psychology. Though physically and organizationally somewhat different from the mammalian cortex, avian(bird brains) are capable of higher thinking skills than previously thought. But was the parrot simply trained to do this? Dr. Pepperberg. explained that "It is doubtful that Alex's achievement, or those of some other animals such as chimps, can be completely trained; rather, it seems likely that these skills are based on simpler cognitive abilities they need for survival, such as recognition of more versus less," Although there was some training Dr. Pepperberg's research, which uses a training method called the model-rival technique, may be able to assist children with autism to improve their ability to learn. |
 Alex the parrot is able to add and substract small numbers and can even say "none" if there is something missing image: Brandeis University |
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Original press release from Eureka
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