evolutionary psychology

[arewethereyet]

Anecdotal evidence from those who care for African grays has long suggested that the parrots possess high innate intelligence. American animal behaviourist and psychologist Irene Pepperberg vindicated those observations with her studies of the cognitive abilities of African grays, using a bird named Alex and, later, additional specimens. Alex, who had been purchased from a pet store in Chicago in 1977, proved receptive to Pepperberg’s attempts to train him using positive behavioral reinforcement. Among his most significant accomplishments was proving unequivocally that parrots could associate sound and meaning, demolishing long-held theories that birds were capable of only mimicking human voices. At the time of his death in 2007, he could use English to count to six, correctly label objects of five shapes and seven colours, and differentiate groups of objects by colour, material, and shape. He further used English to communicate to other African grays in Pepperberg’s lab, variously encouraging and chastising their efforts at labeling and categorization.

Studies by other researchers have determined that African grays can use deductive reasoning to correctly choose between pairs of boxes—one containing food, the other empty—when they are shaken and that pairs of parrots are capable of working together to obtain a food reward. The intelligence of the species is thought to rank among the highest of nonhuman animals, including apes and cetaceans; some researchers have compared its reasoning abilities to those of a three- or four-year-old human child.

(Encyclopedia Brittania)

Alex is the man - or, um, bird.

[evolcon]

Anecdotal evidence from those who care for African grays has long suggested that the parrots possess high innate intelligence. American animal behaviourist and psychologist Irene Pepperberg vindicated those observations with her studies of the cognitive abilities of African grays, using a bird named Alex and, later, additional specimens. Alex, who had been purchased from a pet store in Chicago in 1977, proved receptive to Pepperberg’s attempts to train him using positive behavioral reinforcement. Among his most significant accomplishments was proving unequivocally that parrots could associate sound and meaning, demolishing long-held theories that birds were capable of only mimicking human voices. At the time of his death in 2007, he could use English to count to six, correctly label objects of five shapes and seven colours, and differentiate groups of objects by colour, material, and shape. He further used English to communicate to other African grays in Pepperberg’s lab, variously encouraging and chastising their efforts at labeling and categorization.

Studies by other researchers have determined that African grays can use deductive reasoning to correctly choose between pairs of boxes—one containing food, the other empty—when they are shaken and that pairs of parrots are capable of working together to obtain a food reward. The intelligence of the species is thought to rank among the highest of nonhuman animals, including apes and cetaceans; some researchers have compared its reasoning abilities to those of a three- or four-year-old human child.

(Encyclopedia Brittania)

I don't doubt any of that, African grays are known to have remarkable intelligence, I've seen videos of Pepperberg's work. I will have to do some research concerning using English to communicate with other parrots. thanks for the post.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I don't doubt any of that, African grays are known to have remarkable intelligence, I've seen videos of Pepperberg's work. I will have to do some research concerning using English to communicate with other parrots. thanks for the post.

Are you now ready to admit that language is not unique to humans?

Boru

[evolcon]

I don't doubt any of that, African grays are known to have remarkable intelligence, I've seen videos of Pepperberg's work. I will have to do some research concerning using English to communicate with other parrots. thanks for the post.

Are you now ready to admit that language is not unique to humans?

Boru
I'm sorry but learning the meaning of a limited number of sounds is not having a language. not by any scientific definition of language 

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I don't doubt any of that, African grays are known to have remarkable intelligence, I've seen videos of Pepperberg's work. I will have to do some research concerning using English to communicate with other parrots. thanks for the post.

Read this, probably the best overall view of Alex

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Are you now ready to admit that language is not unique to humans?

Boru
I'm sorry but learning the meaning of a limited number of sounds is not having a language. not by any scientific definition of language 

---

I don't doubt any of that, African grays are known to have remarkable intelligence, I've seen videos of Pepperberg's work. I will have to do some research concerning using English to communicate with other parrots. thanks for the post.

Read this, probably the best overall view of Alex

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language

The parrot communicated, via English, with other parrots. He understood whether the sounds he was using were encouraging or discouraging, which - by any standard - is the vocalized expression of an abstract idea. He was able to determine - and verbally express - qualities, quantities, and composition. He and his fellows have been shown to reason deductively and engage in cooperative problem solving. In short, they have the same reasoning and language skills of a young human.

I think you’ve reached the point where you’ve ceased to support your argument and are relying on simply insisting that you’re right, despite evidence to the contrary.

Boru

[brewer]

The subject is language. and the complex communications that allow humans to, access, with thought. the information stored in their brain, and to do this at will. Human conversation is a very special ability, one must assemble a large number of words, arrange them in a grammatically correct order and verbalize them rapidly.  The avarage human vocabulary consist of more than 10,000 words.
 Human communications allows us to plan, we can think about and talk about yesterday, or years ago, we can discuss the future, we can do this at our leisure, in a boardroom or backyard bbq,  Our amazing progress from hunter gatherer tribes to today's civilization
is due in no small part due to our language skill.

Yes, yes, we all know that you think language is the best thing ever and the only thing you can talk about.

But it might be the time for you to SHUT UP!

[evolcon]

lan•guage
/ˈlaNGɡwij/
method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture

Definition of Language - Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › langu...

1 : the words and expressions used and understood by a large group of people ...


language | Definition, Types, Characteristics, & Facts | Britannica
https://www.britannica.com › ... › Languages

Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means of which human beings express themselves. The functions of language ...
‎

Language Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
https://www.dictionary.com › browse › language

Language definition, a body of words and the systems for their use common to a people who are of the same community or nation, the same geographical area, ...


LANGUAGE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
https://dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › language

— the method of human communication that uses speaking and writing, or the system of communication in speaking and writing that is used by the ...


Language definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
https://www.collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › langua...

A language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols which are used by the people of a particular country or region ...
...

[arewethereyet]

Okay then. We can call this topic closed. You win.

[brewer]

lan•guage

[Angrboda]

Rereading what Britannica wrote about Alex makes me realize something. I had thought that training primates to use language didn't really address their native capacity for language, but in hindsight I think that is wrong. Humans do not learn language without exposure and encouragement, so it would be a bit of a double standard to expect primates to learn language without those things. In that, I'm reminded of Chomsky's view that humans must come "language ready" in some sense, or else they could not realistically translate their experience of language from others into a comprehensible thing that they can use and understand. The search space of language is just too vast. And if that is the case, that primates and other animals exposed to language pick up skills in use and comprehension, then they must have in some sense been "language ready." This strongly suggests that there is good reason to believe that the continuity hypothesis, that language comprehension forms a continuum in the animal kingdom rather than an abrupt transition to humans, is likely correct. Those arguing otherwise seem to be relying on incidental facts such as differences in form between different animal's communication or the fact that an animal by design has preferred means of communication and preferred uses of communication that don't mirror those of humans. This all seems like a pathetic tempest in a teapot given the similarities between and apparently rich cognitive resources that animals besides humans possess in the domain of communication.