The Alex Foundation Newsletter

2005-09-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

What’s Happening in the Lab -

Parrot Personality Profiles

The parrots of The Alex Foundation are just that—parrots. Although they’re famous for triumphs in animal communication, they are parrots at heart. Each bird is in school for a total of 40 minutes a day (two sessions of 20 minutes each)—although sometimes Dr. Pepperberg will squeeze in another training session in the evening, and does all the testing at that time. The rest of the day they are like regular parrots in any home, with one exception—they command of the activities of their world.

Like all animals, they have their own personalities. Griffin, known to his close friends as “Griff,” is ten years old. Sweet and very willing to please, he is shy at first with new people, but very warm to his favorite humans. His eagerness to please makes him especially attentive and cooperative during his training sessions. He obviously wants to give the correct answer to obtain the item in question (and a nut!), but also because it pleases the humans he adores. Arlene, manager of the Pepperberg lab, says he is also a cuddler—at least with her. “He loves to be held close, leaning into me as he rests his head under my chin,” she says. “And of course, he likes his tickles (head scratches) as he snuggles.”

Wart, at seven years old, is the youngest of the birds. His real name is Arthur; his nickname comes from Merlin’s name for the young King Arthur in The Once and Future King. Although he too likes to cuddle with Arlene, he is more of a wild child. Arlene relates, “Wart likes to do gentle swings, and sometimes likes getting his ‘tickles’ when he’s hanging upside down.” Wart’s ability to hang is a special talent, especially in view of a slight disability. No one knows the cause of his problem, but Wart has only three functioning toes. This challenge does not hinder or stop him in anyway. “He loves to hang upside down in his cage,” says Dr. Pepperberg, “just to show us how strong he is!”

When the students are not working on formal tasks with the birds, it’s open season for the birds to work on the lab staff—in short, the birds are in command. For instance, Wart doesn’t articulate where he wants to go, but does show with body language when he wants to go to someone or somewhere. Griff often lifts a foot to be picked up, and demands “wanna go back” to return to his area. Alex gets jealous when one of the other birds is on a T-stand next to Arlene’s chair, and complains, “wanna go chair” in order to displace the offending occupier. But once on the treasured T-stand, he sometimes very quickly decides, “wanna go back.” All these avian imperatives keep the lab staff hopping. After all, the staff IS staff—a human support system for these professional scholars!

“People seem to think that the birds are more like students than parrots,” Arlene says, “but they’re just like other parrots, whistling and making bird chatter.” During the phone interview for this article, the distinct sound of parrot prattle could be heard in the background. At that moment, Alex had climbed inside a cardboard box on top of his cage, and was doing the “Alex Monologue.” Alex loves to go inside his cardboard “house” and run through his litany of phrases and words. One can’t help but smile at the thought of this bright boy telling himself every thing he knows!

Alex, at 29 years old, is the old man of the lab--in more ways than one. He not only is the most educated parrot, he is also the chief trainer…of the humans. Each time a new student comes into the lab, Alex trains them the Alex way. During the first few days of a new person’s presence, Alex starts ordering them around by reeling off food names. Once the food is brought to him, he drops it. Now that the human knows the proper names of his food, the directives begin. “Wanna go chair, want tickles, wanna go back, want showah (shower)”…these requests go on and on until Alex is satisfied the human understands his commands. Alex’s preparation process goes on for about a week, or until he feels he has the new person is properly “trained.”

Like most parrots, each bird shows preference for certain humans and some for certain sexes. Wart doesn’t take to most males, and although Griffin doesn’t have a gender preference, he is choosy about whom he picks as friends. For the most part, Alex prefers guys over gals, but has been known to cuddle up to a few women. And of course, his favorite human is a woman, Dr. Irene Pepperberg. Not only has he known her for 29 years, she has given him something most of us have not given our birds—control.

Think of it. Unlike our parrots, Alex can ask for what he wants, where he wants it and when he wants it. That’s quite an ability to give an animal—the ability to control the world around them. Instead of having to adapt to what a human thinks is best for birds, Alex is allowed to create his own reality—with the help of a few humans, of course. After all, they are just “staff.”

© 2005 by The Alex Foundation. All rights reserved. The Alex Foundation Newsletter or parts thereof cannot be reproduced in any manner without permission of The Alex Foundation. The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, is based in Waltham, MA.

2005-09-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

What’s Happening with Your Parrot’s Research? -

Your Bird in Alex’s World

The Alex Foundation receives a lot of mail regarding teaching parrots in the home. Almost all owners would like to know how their parrot can learn like Alex. Because we don’t know each individual situation, it’s a tough question to answer. But we’d like to address some of the more general questions to you--the everyday parrot owner--in this month’s newsletter.

The most important factor to consider is why you want your parrot to learn. Many of Alex’s concepts—color, numbers, size, etc.—do not have practical applications in the common parrot’s home. However, if your parrot, like Alex, learns to ask for what he or she wants, both their world and yours becomes a thing of wonder.

The majority of parrots have no control over what happens to them each day. Most people work away from home, leaving parrots in a cage with a few toys, for at least 8 or 9 hours a day. Imagine leaving a four to six year-old child in a playpen for the same amount of time, a child who cannot ask for what they want, and you’ll get some idea of an African Grey’s everyday existence.

Now imagine what a different world your African Grey would live in if he or she could demand, “want pets,” “want out,” and “want play.” Even these few commands could help alleviate a bit of the frustration these wild animals might be feeling in a human environment. As humans, we always feel better when our needs are met. With an animal, being able to ask to have their needs met must seem like an entirely new existence.

Although it isn’t possible within the scope of this article to fully explain how to teach your parrot simple commands, we can give you some basic principles to start you on your way. The first and most important source you should familiarize yourself with is Dr. Pepperberg’s book, The Alex Studies (available at the gift shop of www.alexfoundation.org). The book tells the story of the beginning of Dr. Pepperberg’s research, how she began to realize the learning abilities of African Greys, and how she developed the teaching tools to begin her pioneering work.

This amazing book will help you understand how the parrot mind works, and having this general knowledge can help you develop your own approaches for teaching your own bird. That being said, there are still some fundamental principles and aspects that must be followed in teaching an African Grey to truly communicate.

Dr. Pepperberg based her successful approach to teaching parrots vocal labels by modifying the Model/Rival principles developed by Dr. Dietmar Todt. Dr. Todt’s teaching methods used humans to assume the role of parrot peers in the wild. In Dr. Todt’s work, one human always acted as the trainer, and another human always acted as the model/rival—a model for the parrot’s behavior AND a simultaneous rival for the attention of the trainer. Dr. Todt’s African Greys learned much more quickly by observing the human interaction than they had by other methods. Although Dr. Todt’s intention for training had not been meaningful communication (but optimal learning conditions), it was observed that the birds only interacted with their particular trainer, and learned only the phrase spoken by the model/rival, never that of the trainer.

Dr. Pepperberg modified the Model/Rival technique by alternating the role of trainer with that of the model/rival, so the bird sees that one person is not always the questioner and the other the respondent. Also, she uses several different people to act as both trainer and model/rival. In very simplistic terms, this allows the parrots to perceive the label they are learning as “global” in application, and helps the bird understand that it too can ask questions or make demands. When using Dr. Pepperberg’s methods, the parrot’s mind interprets the vocal utterance of “cork” as “that brown spongy thing”--with not only the two humans currently asking questions, but ALL humans who ask this question.

Dr. Pepperberg’s ability to show parrots that vocal labels were global was a breakthrough in animal-human communication. It calls to mind the scene in The Miracle Worker, in which Helen Keller understands that the finger pattern made by her teacher represents the water flowing over her hand. It was THAT sensational.

For your bird to truly learn the meaning of vocal labels, you must not only use the same methods of Dr. Pepperberg, but also employ them in the same manner. In addition to family members, it’s a good idea to have several friends stop by for a few training sessions. The more people that apply the same vocal label to an object, item or action, the more clearly your parrot will understand the universality of the label to that object, item or action.

When training, the trainer and model/rival must also demonstrate wrong or mispronounced vocal labels, so the bird learns that not any new sound it makes is appropriate. When the wrong answer or mispronunciation is given, the trainer turns away with the object in hand, sometimes saying “no” at the same time. The model/rival then gets a second chance before the humans change roles. When the human model/rival says the correct answer, he or she receives the object from the trainer, and acts very happy in doing so. Here’s a brief example of a training session, from The Alex Studies.

In this exchange, Dr. Pepperberg and Bruce Rosen (secondary trainer) are trying to improve Alex’s pronunciation of the label “five.”

Dr. Pepperberg (acting as trainer): “Bruce, what’s this?”

Bruce (acting as model/rival): “Five wood.”

Dr. Pepperberg: “That’s right, five wood. Here you are…five wood. (She hands over five wooden craft sticks to Bruce. Bruce begins to break one apart, much as Alex would.)

Alex (acting as parrot): “’ii wood.”

Bruce (Now acting as trainer, he quickly replaces the broken stick and presents the five sticks to Alex.)
“Better…” (Bruce briefly turns away then repositions himself in visual contact with Alex) “…how many?”

Alex: “No!”

Bruce: (Bruce turns from Alex to establish visual contact with Dr. Pepperberg) “Irene, what’s this?” (Presents sticks)
Dr. Pepperberg: (now acting as model/rival) “’ii wood.”

Bruce: “Better…” (Bruce turns away from Dr. Pepperberg, then resumes eye contact with her) “…how many?”

Dr. Pepperberg: “FIVE wood” (takes wooden sticks) “…five wood.” (Now Dr. Pepperberg acts as trainer again, directs her gaze to Alex and presents the sticks to him) “…how many wood?”

Alex: “Fife wood.”

Dr. Pepperberg: “OK, Alex, close enough…fivvvvve wood…here’s five wood. (She places one stick in Alex’s beak and the others within close reach)

Again, this is just an example of a training session. Please know that this article’s explanation of the Model/Rival method is very generalized--teaching your parrot with this method can be complex, and not without disappointment. The beginning sessions with your bird probably won’t elicit the same accuracy as the example above, or even an appropriate response. However, one gal in our group did experience the “k” sound from her African Grey the first time she attempted to teach the vocal label of “key!”

Get a copy of The Alex Studies, read it from cover to cover, and you’ll be in a very good place to begin to teach your parrot to communicate with you.

Teaching your parrot with the Model/Rival method is a serious undertaking, requiring a close, impartial observation of your bird’s reaction. Start off with one or two separate short training sessions (five minutes each), and then increase the frequency and length of the sessions once your bird begins to learn. There is no hard and fast rule as to when to increase the time length or the frequency of sessions. Your bird’s response to your teaching, their enthusiasm or lack of it, is the best indicator. Regularity is also another important aspect. Your birds can’t be expected to learn from a hit-or-miss method of training—sessions should take place daily (with perhaps one or two days off each week) to facilitate their learning.

It is also important that the teaching environment be quiet, with no distractions such as TV or interaction between other family members. Alex learned his stuff quickly because he was given five or six sessions per day, with a lot of personal attention directed only toward him. In the past year, because of lack of funding, the learning rate of Wart and Griffin has slowed significantly, mainly because we can only afford two sessions per day by hired help. And because the lab is all in one room, the birds are often distracted by other goings-on in their environment, particularly Alex’s interruptions of Grif’s and Wart’s sessions!

Which brings up our most pressing need…

© 2005 by The Alex Foundation. All rights reserved. The Alex Foundation Newsletter or parts thereof cannot be reproduced in any manner without permission of The Alex Foundation. The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, is based in Waltham, MA.

2005-09-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

What’s Happening in Fundraising? -

Wart and Griffin have not been learning as much or as quickly as they have in the past, simply because we don’t have enough space or personnel to teach them in the manner that it best for them. There is always something going on in the lab, whether it’s a student building a new toy or Alex trying to run the other birds’ training sessions—the action is non-stop!

Although this activity gives the birds plenty of action to observe, it’s just not the optimal situation for their learning. And it’s showing.

Our most urgent funding need is money to rent more space for the lab, so the birds can’t observe the activities of others during sessions. We also need to hire some new trainers so the birds can have more one-on-one time with humans. All the birds—Alex, Griffin, and Wart—really enjoy that special attention reserved only for them. And we think they deserve all the attention they can get—they try so hard, and they work so hard— just so they can communicate with humans.

Please do what you can to help them further their education. When you contribute, you become part of Dr. Pepperberg’s remarkable work. When you see Alex on television, you’re part of his accomplishments, because you made them possible. Please help make Wart’s and Griffin’s future just as amazing as Alex’s present day feats. It CAN happen—but only with your help.

Snail Mail address:

Contributions to The Alex Foundation can be made on Alex’s website, http://www.alexfoundation.org/, or by sending a check or money order to the address below:

The Alex Foundation
Brandeis University
Department of Psychology, MS-062
Attn: A. Levin415 South StreetWaltham, MA 02454

Some firms offer a corporate-matching program. If you are employed by a company that matches employee donations, your contribution to The Alex Foundation can do twice as much good. All contributions to The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, are tax deductible.

Fundraising Item of the Month:

The Alex Greeting Cards – get ready for the holidays, birthday, or any day with Alex! There’s a card (and a bird) for all seasons! Click here -- Alex Greeting Cards – to check out these great cards!

Parrot Palooza Gets Ready to Rock!

If you’re within driving distance of Burlington, New Jersey, you’ll definitely want to save the date of Saturday, October 22. It’s the day of the second annual Parrot Palooza, sponsored by Bird Paradise, the largest bird superstore on the east coast!

Dr. Irene Pepperberg will host two FREE seminars, along with a book signing. Alex’s signature line items (cups, mugs, bags, etc) will be sold that day as well. All proceeds from these sales will benefit The Alex Foundation.

Another seminar in toy-making is being sponsored by 8 Beaks Toys (http://www.8beaks.com) If you’ve ever been stumped by how to make toys that your bird will really enjoy, this training seminar will help answer your questions.

Along with door prizes, pumpkin carving contests, raffles and a Chinese auction, the entire store inventory will be on sale for that day only. Visit www.birdparadise.biz for further information or call (609) 747-7777 for more details. Free barbeque and refreshments will be served all day long! This event promises to be too good to miss, so stop by for some fun!

© 2005 by The Alex Foundation. All rights reserved. The Alex Foundation Newsletter or parts thereof cannot be reproduced in any manner without permission of The Alex Foundation. The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, is based in Waltham, MA.

2005-08-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

What’s Happening in Research

- The Great Manipulators

In everyday conversation, the word “manipulate” often conveys a taste of the conniving, a sense that someone is trying to control the outcome of a situation. Contrary to our contemporary usage, modern dictionaries define the primary meaning of manipulate as “to move, arrange, operate or control…by hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner.” Its secondary definition is more in line with our daily use of the word; the verb is explained as “to influence or manage shrewdly.”

The parrots of The Alex Foundation show behaviors that express both definitions of the word. They can manipulate objects AND people in a very remarkable manner. Dr. Pepperberg’s paper, “‘Insightful’ string-pulling in Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) is affected by vocal competence” (Animal Cognition, Springer-Verlag, 2004), explores the ability of African Greys to obtain objects through the actions of physical manipulation and vocal communication with humans.

In 2003, Dr. Pepperberg began a study of African Grey parrots with a method that had been used to assess “insight” in other avian species, such as ravens. Birds were evaluated on their ability to retrieve food suspended from a string or cord, which was hung below a perch. To obtain this food, the bird, who had no previous training at this task, would stare for a few moments at the apparatus. The bird would then spontaneously reach down, pull up a loop of string onto the perch, secure the string by stepping on it, and then repeat this sequence numerous times. If the bird was successful in the attempt to obtain the food, an “intentional means” was indicated, in that the bird was performing behavior intentionally to accomplish the end behavior of attaining food. This “intentional means-end behavior” suggested a higher-order ability to reason, an ability that is not common among species or even within a given species.

Four parrots participated in Dr. Pepperberg’s work. The birds—Kyaaro, Wart, Alex and Griffin--had varying backgrounds of training, backgrounds that would have telling results on the outcome of the study. The string-pulling abilities of the birds were tested during different time periods with Kyaaro and Alex being tested first in 1995. (Kyaaro, who developed an avian form of Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, has been retired and is now living happily with Maggie Wright of the Grey Play Round Table and her two female Greys.) Alex would be tested again when Griffin and Wart had their first exposure to string-pulling in 2003.

--Kyaaro, almost five years old in 1995, had had four years of training, limited mostly to unsuccessful video and audio input. (Training a parrot through video or audio exposure to words and phrases repeated over and over, does not allow them to learn actual names or labels of objects, as does the model-rival technique). Consequently, Kyaaro’s vocabulary consisted of only a few object and number labels.

--Wart, four and a half years old in 2003, had been trained for three and a half years, mostly in animal-computer interaction. He could use a few labels, such as “want some,” a phase he would utter when a trainer had something he wanted. However, he did not specify the object he wanted the trainer to retrieve.

---Alex, 27 years old in 2003, had received 26 years of human modeling training. At the time of testing, he possessed over 50 object labels, seven colors, five shapes, numbers up to “six,” three categories and many functional phrases. These functional phrases consisted of “I want (object),” “Wanna go (location),” “Come here,” and the command, “Go pick up (whatever!).” Prior to the 2003 study, he had experienced one trial session of string-pulling eight years earlier, in 1995.

--Griffin, eight years old in 2003, had been trained with two methods--the same method used to teach Alex, and also the video training method used with Kyaaro. The training by video experiments caused Griffin the same lack of success as Kyaaro. As a result, Griffin did not have as large of a vocabulary as Alex. But because he also had quite a bit of model-rival training, Griffin did use some of the same labels, commands, and functional phrases as Alex.

Kyaaro, Wart, Alex and Griffin were tested individually to establish their “string-pulling” abilities. Instead of strings, chains of plastic links were used to suspend the target objects. The trials of testing occurred months apart to avoid “massed-trial learning,” in other words, to prevent the birds learning from simply being exposed repeatedly to the same challenge. In Alex’s case, eight years had passed since his initial exposure to string-pulling.

For three of the birds, almonds were offered as the desired object, interchanged occasionally with a piece of chalk. The chalk was used to determine if the type of reward affected the bird’s behavior, because in a bird’s world, chalk is apparently is not as highly coveted as those delicious almonds! Kyaaro’s favorite object was a bell, so for his testing, the bell became the object to obtain. Each bird was placed on a T-stand perch, and after the targeted item had been suspended, the trainers would simply point to the object. If the bird did not seem interested, the trainer would ask “Pick up nut/bell/chalk/treat.”

The results and implications of the study were, to say the least, jaw-dropping. African Grey parrots are astoundingly intelligent, but this study showed just how cleverly they adapted those smarts to the situation at hand.

Both Kyaaro and Wart immediately performed the actions of pulling, stepping and repeating these steps to attain the much-wanted treat. Without hesitation, they executed the actions consistently and with perseverance. After obtaining the almond or bell, the birds enjoyed them as their “treats.” If given a choice between the chalk and the other treat, they always chose the favored treat. During subsequent trials, when chalk was the only object available to obtain, the birds would still retrieve the chalk they saw hanging below them, but would drop it once they had it on their perch. It’s almost as if they enjoyed the challenge of retrieving the chalk as much as they enjoyed the ultimate treat of an almond or bell.

The behavior of Alex and Griffin came from the opposite end of the spectrum—neither of the birds made any attempt to retrieve the nuts. When confronted by the almond hanging below, both Alex (as he had done in 1995) and Griffin looked at the nuts, looked at the trainer, and said, “Want nut.” When the trainer said, “Go pick up nut,” they calmly replied, “Want nut.” This verbal interplay went back and forth during each trial. But Alex took things one step further. During one session, Alex’s demands of “Want nut!” got louder and more intense with the trainer’s failure to comply with his requests.

Dr. Pepperberg states, “The most noteworthy result of the…experiment was that the two parrots with limited vocabularies immediately acted out the correct physical task to obtain their treats, whereas the parrots that had received considerably more effective training in referential English speech attempted instead to manipulate their trainers.”

After their first lack of cooperation in the 2003 string-pulling trials, Griffin and Alex were allowed to observe one of Wart’s successful sessions. But even this did not encourage them to engage in getting those nuts on their own. They ignored the almonds and they ignored the chalk. In fact, in this session, they would not even ask the trainer to get the nut for them. And one has to ask “Why?”

Dr. Pepperberg addresses this, writing, “Determining their actual reasoning is not possible…” But she does offer some potential explanations--one theory is that the birds had learned the trainers would not assist them in this situation, so making a request of the trainers would be useless.

The study does imply an astounding phenomenon which expands the concept of “intentional means-end behavior.” It is this—if a bird’s higher cognitive abilities are established by the ability to manipulate a device to obtain food, what are the implications of a bird’s request to have a human attain it for him, rather than work for it himself?

The behavior of Alex and Griffin, in demanding their trainers fetch their food, could indicate an even higher order of intelligence, in that they know how to manipulate another individual to access their wants. Before Dr. Pepperberg’s 2003 study, there was no prior evidence to suggest that a bird would respond first by the manipulation of others, rather than use a mechanical apparatus.

Dr. Pepperberg explains, “They (Alex and Griffin) were requesting that the trainers do something for them in a very specific and direct manner. They were not treating humans as a physical object to be used (such as a stepping stone to reach something desired) but were engaging in deliberate communication as a problem-solving strategy, a fairly advanced stage of development, even for human infants.”

Those detractors who deny the possibility of inter-species communication will find any reason to reject the validity of the birds’ behavior. But there is one aspect even the disbelievers cannot deny—these birds are great manipulators, whether they are string-pulling to obtain the objects of their desire, or if they are pulling strings to manipulate humans to satisfy their wants.

© 2005 by The Alex Foundation. All rights reserved. The Alex Foundation Newsletter or parts thereof cannot be reproduced in any manner without permission of The Alex Foundation. The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, is based in Waltham, MA.

2005-08-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

What’s Happening in the Lab

- Lessons on How to Chastise a Human

It is a given that some humans are more fortunate than others, and most admirers of Dr. Pepperberg’s work harbor a secret envy of those who work with the parrots Alex, Griffin and Wart. Chris, a young student in the lab, is one of those fortunate few. During each workday he gets to experience the wonder and marvels of these incredible creatures.

But those amazing experiences are accompanied by some rather startling lessons that are taught to the lab employees—unexpected lessons which these humans may not realize they need to learn. At times Alex obviously feels the need for some improvement in human behavior, and he pulls no punches in his teaching methods.

“Alex took to me like a parrot to palm fruits,” said Chris. “I felt special, but I soon learned that Alex is a charmer, making almost everyone feel special.” Chris described Alex as “smart, sensitive, macho, articulate, a reveler and trickster.” Little did Chris know that Alex would soon take on the role of lab critic.

“It was a training session for Griffin,” Chris recounts. “Alex was in his cage, seemingly poised and calm. I would soon learn that posture meant trouble. Griffin was being asked to identify a toy truck, but he looked puzzled. Griffin’s facial expression seemed to say, ‘I’ve seen that thing a thousand times and just can’t remember the name of it.’

“Arlene, the lab manager, and I began a ‘human-human’ training session in front of Griffin. Arlene would ask me, ‘What toy?’ I would answer ‘truck’, get the truck, and drop it. I would then request and receive a nut so that Griffin would see that if he labeled the truck correctly, he could get whatever he wanted (which was usually a nut). All this was done in quite an interesting display of emotions. I would be happy and perky, caressing and playing with the toy, making ‘kiddie’ voices of ‘truuuuck, oooooh….I get a nut!’

“The session then switched back to asking Griffin to identify the toy, and Griffin was still not answering. This went on for several minutes, and I got a little frustrated, perhaps raising my voice a little.

“‘Calm down!’ called a voice from the corner, the corner that held Alex’s cage. Arlene replied, ‘He IS calm, Alex.’ In disbelief, I went at it again with Griffin,” says Chris, only to hear the voice from the corner erupt again with a rousing, '"Come on, give it a try!'"

“ Although he doesn’t offer verbal critiques on the behavior of his favorite human, Dr. Pepperberg, Alex has shown her that sometimes she might need concepts presented a little more slowly so she can understand them.

Alex usually receives whatever he requests for every correct answer during his learning sessions, but a limited amount of time on one day caused a slight change. This time he was requesting nuts, and because nut-eating is time consuming, Dr. Pepperberg decided to award the nut after several correct answers. Alex soon made his feelings known. “Want a nut” was heard after each response. “Alex, wait,” Dr. Pepperberg replied. “Want a NUT!” he complained again after the next correct answer. As Dr. Pepperberg tells it, “We’re going on and on and Alex is clearly getting more and more frustrated. He finally gets very slitty-eyed and he looks at me and states, ‘Want a NUT! Nnn--uh--tuh!’" —sounding out each letter clearly and precisely.

Perhaps he thought “sounding out” a word could help his poor human friend understand just what was expected. And Alex had been getting training on “sounding out” letters, but had never put them together to form a word—so his behavior was special in that way as well. One cannot help but wonder if Alex’s fertile mind reasons that sometimes human beings could improve their behavior in his lab, whether it involves the asking of questions or the giving of nuts.

We will never know the exact thought processes inside that wise grey-feathered head, but his comments do fulfill the sentiments of the old saying, “Those who can, do--those who can’t, become critics.” In Alex’s case, he has demonstrated that he can do both, and do both very well.

© 2005 by The Alex Foundation. All rights reserved. The Alex Foundation Newsletter or parts thereof cannot be reproduced in any manner without permission of The Alex Foundation. The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, is based in Waltham, MA.

2005-08-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

What’s Happening in Fundraising

- Be Queen (or King) for a Day!

Would you like to be queen or king of Alex’s lab for one day? Well, becoming honorary royalty is just a donation away if you participate in the newest fundraising campaign of The Alex Foundation.

The need for funds to support Dr. Pepperberg’s research has never been greater. Now that Dr. Pepperberg’s Fellowship at Radcliffe is over and she doesn’t have a regular academic job, the possibility of academic funding no longer exists. The Alex Foundation currently relies solely on private donations.

And what better way to contribute than to support the costs of training and care for one day?

Imagine being able to take Alex out for meal, dropping him by school, and then enjoying his playtime. Regrettably, each King or Queen of the Lab cannot physically experience these activities. The birds’ learning environment limits them to very few visitors, and Alex’s fans might mob him if he ever actually went out to dinner!

But by supporting the lab for one day ($275) or for a half day ($150), you would, in effect, be doing all of those FUN activities! Picture Alex delicately nibbling his broccoli buds, being handfed by one of “his” humans. (He actually demands this type of service!) Visualize Alex and his “professor”--his training sessions are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, and he has recently realized the concept of “zero.” Imagine Alex at the end of his day, indulging in some well-deserved playtime.

And all of this would be due to your generous sponsorship. Aside from the immense gratification of supporting these smart birds, contributors will receive a photo from that day’s training session, along with a certificate of appreciation, signed by Dr. Pepperberg and chomped by the true King of the Lab, Alex himself!

Alex and his cohorts have given the world an entirely new meaning to the phrase, “bird brain.” That phase, which once implied a flighty-type of stupidity, now can be construed as an intelligence capable of reasoning abilities equal to that of a four to six year-old child. Our modern day society becomes outraged when a child is denied education and food. Now that we know these extraordinary parrots have the same capabilities of a human child, surely we can help provide them with the same opportunities.

The continuing education of Alex is in your hands—and a mind like his would be a terrible thing to waste.

------------------------

Contributions to The Alex Foundation can be made on Alex’s website, http://www.alexfoundation.org/, or by sending a check or money order to the address below:

The Alex Foundation
Brandeis University
Department of Psychology, MS-062
Attn: A. Levin
415 South Street
Waltham, MA 02454

Some firms offer a corporate-matching program. If you are employed by a company that matches employee donations, your contribution to The Alex Foundation can do twice as much good. All contributions to The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, are tax deductible.

© 2005 by The Alex Foundation. All rights reserved. The Alex Foundation Newsletter or parts thereof cannot be reproduced in any manner without permission of The Alex Foundation. The Alex Foundation, a non-profit 501c.(3) organization, is based in Waltham, MA.