Birds’ Intelligence: Do Parrots Understand What They Are Saying?

 
PIIS0032874X0001452-6-1
DOI10.31857/S0032874X0001452-6
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Occupation: head of the laboratory of physiology and genetics of the Department of higher nervous activity
Affiliation: Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Affiliation: Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Address: Russian Federation
Affiliation: Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Address: Russian Federation
Journal namePriroda
EditionIssue №10
Pages46-57
Abstract

The results of the long-term studies of parrots’ thinking ability, conducted by the American psychologist I.Pepperberg, are discussed. She showed that these birds are comparable to great apes in their cognitive abilities. It is emphasized that the data of I.Pepperberg coincide with the results, obtained by the authors of this article in the study of corvids. A unique experiment on language learning of African parrot Jaco Alex is described. This bird learned not only the names of objects and actions, but also a number of concepts (more/less, similarity/difference). The ability of Alex to expand the lexicon by imitating people is demonstrated. The ability of the parrot to evaluate and to “name” the emotional state of others (anxiety, irritation, and fatigue) is noted.

Keywordsavian intelligence, parrots speech, origin of language
Received18.10.2018
Publication date18.10.2018
Number of characters768
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