Number Comprehension by a Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus), Including a Zero-Like Concept
A Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) that was able to quantify 6 item sets (including subsets of heterogeneous groups, e.g., blue blocks within groupings of blue and green blocks and balls) using English labels (I. M. Pepperberg, 1994a) was tested on comprehension of these labels, which is crucial for numerical competence (K. C. Fuson, 1988; see […]
Cognitive and communicative capacities of Grey parrots – implications for the enrichment of many species
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, […]
Vocal learning in the grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus): Effects of species identity and number of trainers
Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) learn referential English labels when they view and interact with 2 humans who model vocal labeling and who demonstrate referentiality and functionality of a label (I. M. Pepperberg, 1990a). To test if both trainers are necessary, the authors contrasted 2-trainer modeling with training by 1 human who presented targeted labels to […]