Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T06:25:44.490Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cognitive and communicative capacities of Grey parrots — implications for the enrichment of many species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

IM Pepperberg
IM Pepperberg*
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Building 7-231, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Brandeis University, Department of Psychology, Waltham, MA 02454, USA
*
[email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Much of my research has been devoted to determining the cognitive and communicative abilities of Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus), but other companion animals and those in captivity in Zoos also have considerable capacities that are often under-utilised in such settings. Many such animals are left to their own devices for large parts of the day; their boredom may translate into unsuitable behaviour patterns. In order to address this problem, my colleagues and I began to devise various computer-based ‘toys’ that would not only provide enrichment in the sense of relieving boredom and reproducing situations somewhat like the challenges faced by animals in the wild on a daily basis, but also would help us determine the extent of these animals’ cognitive capacities. Some of these systems allow remote interactions between owners and their pets and others might be adapted for animal-animal interactions. In this paper I will describe these projects, their aims, and our limited progress.

Keywords

animal-human communicationanimal welfareavian intelligencecompanion animalscomputer-based enrichmentGrey parrot
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 13 , Issue S1: Science in the Service of Animal Welfare: Proceedings of the UFAW International Symposium, Edinburgh, 2-4 April 2003 , February 2004 , pp. S203 - S208
Copyright
© 2004 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Baldwin, D A 1995 Understanding the link between joint attention and language. In: Moore, C and Dunham, P J (eds) Joint Attention: its Origin and Role in Development pp 131–158. Erlbaum: Hillsdale, New Jersey, USAGoogle Scholar
Brown, R 1973 A First Language: The Early Stages. Harvard: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsburg, N 1960 Conditioned vocalization in the budgerigar. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 53: 183–186CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginsburg, N 1963 Conditioned vocalization in the mynah bird. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 56: 1061–1063CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gramza, A F 1970 Vocal mimicry in captive budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 27: 971–983CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosslight, J H and Zaynor, W C 1967 Vocal behavior of the mynah bird. In: Salzinger, K and Salzinger, S (eds) Research in Verbal Behavior and Some Neuro-Physiological Implications pp 5–9. Academic Press: New York, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosslight, J H, Zaynor, W C and Lively, B L 1964 Speech as a stimulus for differential vocal behavior in the mynah bird (Gracula religiosa). Psychonomic Science 11: 78Google Scholar
Hollich, G J, Hirsh-Pasek, K and Golinkoff, R M 2000 Breaking the language barrier: an emergentist coalition model for the origins of word learning. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 262: 1–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, E D 2002 Evolution of vocal learning and associated brain structures in birds. Unpublished Proceedings of the 23rd International Ornithological Congress, 11-17 August 2002, Beijing, China.Google Scholar
Jarvis, E D and Mello, C V 2000 Molecular mapping of brain areas involved in parrot vocal communication. Journal of Comparative Neurology 419: 1–313.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kilian, A, Yaman, S, von Fersen, L and Güntürkün, O 2003 A bottlenosed dolphin discriminates visual stimuli differing in numerosity. Learning and Behavior 31: 133–142CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenneberg, E H 1971 Of language, knowledge, apes, and brains. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 1: 129CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lenneberg, E H 1973 Biological aspects of language. In: Miller, G A (ed) Communication, Language, and Meaning pp 49–60. Basic Books: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Mebes, H D 1978 Pair-specific duetting in the Peach-faced Lovebird. Naturwissenschaften 65: 66–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mowrer, O H 1952 The autism theory of speech development and some clinical applications. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders 17: 263–268CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mowrer, O H 1954 A psychologist looks at language. American Psychologist 9: 660–694CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mowrer, O H 1980 Psychology of Language and Learning. Plenum Press: New York, USACrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pepperberg, I M 1994 Vocal learning in African Grey parrots: effects of social interaction. Auk 111: 300–313CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pepperberg, I M 1999 The Alex Studies. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USAGoogle Scholar
Pepperberg, I M 2001 Lessons from cognitive ethology: animal models for ethological computing. In: Balkenius C, Zlatev J, Kozima H, Dautenhahn K and Breazeal C (eds) Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Epigenetic Robots, September 17-18 2001, Lund, Sweden. Lund University Cognitive Science Series Number 85. Available at: http://www.lucs.lu.se/Abstracts/LUCS_Studies/LUC585.html.Google Scholar
Pepperberg, I M Evolution of communication from an avian perspective. In: Oller K and Grieble U (eds) Evolution of Communication. MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (in press a).Google Scholar
Pepperberg, I M Insights into vocal imitation in Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). In: Hurley S L and Chater N (eds) Perspectives on Imitation. MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (in press b).Google Scholar
Pepperberg, I M and Brezinsky, M V 1991 Relational learning by an African Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus): discriminations based on relative size. Journal of Comparative Psychology 105: 286294CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pepperberg, I M and McLaughlin, M A 1996 Effect of avian-human joint attention on vocal learning by Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Journal of Comparative Psychology I 10: 286–297CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pepperberg, I M, Gardiner, L I and Luttrell, L J 1999 Limited contextual vocal learning in the Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus): the effect of co-viewers on videotaped instruction. Journal of Comparative Psychology 113: 158–172CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pepperberg, I M, Naughton, J R and Banta, P A 1998 Allospecific vocal learning by Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus): a failure of videotaped instruction under certain conditions. Behavioural Processes 42: 139–158CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pepperberg, I M, Sandefer, R M, Noel, D and Ellsworth, C P 2000 Vocal learning in the Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus): effect of species identity and number of trainers. Journal of Comparative Psychology 114: 371–380CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Premack, D 1978 On the abstractness of human concepts: why it would be difficult to talk to a pigeon. In: Hulse, S H, Fowler, H F and Honig, W K (eds) Cognitive Processes in Animal Behavior pp 421–451. Erlbaum: Hillsdale, New Jersey, USAGoogle Scholar
Premack, D 1983 The codes of man and beasts. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 6: 125–167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reiss, D and McCowan, B 1993 Spontaneous vocal mimicry and production by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus): evidence for vocal learning, journal of Comparative Psychology 107: 301–312Google ScholarPubMed
Savage-Rumbaugh, S, Murphy, J, Sevcik, R A, Brakke, K E, Williams, S L and Rumbaugh, D M 1993 Language comprehension in ape and child, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 233: 1–258Google Scholar
Shumaker, W, Palkovich, A M, Beck, B B, Guagnano, G A and Morowitz, H 2001 Spontaneous use of magnitude discrimination and ordination by the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Journal of Comparative Psychology 115: 385–391CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Siegel 1990 Stressful life events and use of physician services among the elderly: the moderating role of pet ownership, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology SS: 1081–1086.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Striedter, G 1994 The vocal control pathways in budgerigars differ from those in songbirds. Journal of Comparative Neurology 10: 1541–1556Google Scholar
Thorpe, W H 1974 Animal and Human Nature. Doubleday: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Thorpe, W H and North, M E W 1965 Origin and significance of the power of vocal imitation: with special reference to the antiphonal singing of birds. Nature 205: 219–222CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Todt, D 1975 Social learning of vocal patterns and modes of their applications in Grey parrots. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 39: 178–188CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, R E and Young, R J 2002 Do domestic dogs show any evidence of being able to count? Animal Cognition S: 183–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whiten, A 1998 Imitation of the sequential structure of actions by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology 112: 270–281CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed