African Gray grasps zero concept

[UM-Bot]

Alex, a 28-year-old African gray parrot, responds "none" when he sees there are no items on a tray, which is usually stocked with objects. Although his brain is the size of a walnut, scientists say Alex's ability to understand the concept of zero is amazing, as humans do not typically grasp it until the age of 3 or 4.

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[Richdog]

Heh that's very cool. I also find the fact the praire dogs have developed a seperate word for "human" particularly fascinating.

[Pannkakskungen]

Hmm, I wonder what the prairie dogs are saying about us

[MadEyePixie]

Thats so cool. African Grays are so smart. I had no idea rats could laugh. Thats pretty weird.

[AztecInca]

It is indeed amazing what many animals are capable of understanding and doing, they are just constantly amazing us supposedly superior humans!

[neverreborn]

As one who has spent her entire adult life teaching, it saddens me to read this article and it saddens me even more to read responses that indicate an immediate acceptance of the article as both true and worthy of attention. It is neither.

There are multiple errors in this article but two of them are outstanding in their display of ignorance.

1. - The statement that when Alex sees an empty tray and responds 'none' indicates that Alex has grasped the mathematical concept of zero. This is not so! The concept of zero has nothing to do with an empty tray. Any animal with two neurons and a synapse is capable of recognizing the presence or absence of food. Let me rephrase that... Even amoebae are capable of recognizing the presence or absence of food. Such a recognition can, in higher forms of life, be extrapolated to many other presence/absence pairs. Presence or absence of danger? Yep. Presence or absence of suitable 'housing'? Yep. Presence or absence of sex object? Double yep! There is nothing 'amazing' about a parrot who can look at an empty tray and recognize that it holds nothing of interest.

2. Pepperberg's statement, 'It is doubtful that Alex's achievement, or those of some other animals such as chimps, can be completely trained.' is astonishingly lacking in even the most simple knowledge of ethology. Given an African Gray parrot who is a bit hungry; given an empty tray; given some really luscious parrot goodies, I'd wager that I could have that parrot trained to say 'none' when shown the empty tray in less than an hour, total training time. Less than that if the bird already knows how to say the word 'none'. Such a behavior would be incredibly simple to train.

(Additionally, bringing 'other animals such as chimps' into the discussion is strong evidence that the author has no understanding of how to write a scientific article. Chimps and parrots are totally different species with different intellectual capacities, different sociological constructs and different ways of learning. They cannot be equated. That comment was a grave mistake, if the author intended to be taken seriously.)

Last, but not least, I am horrified by the article's title in that it claims that Alex 'understands the concept of zero'. That is absolutely not happening here! In no way did the author give one single, solitary piece of evidence that Alex can do anything more than speak the word 'none' upon seeing an empty tray. The 'concept of zero' gains it's value in understanding zero as a placeholder and there is not the tiniest indication that Alex grasps this concept. See the Math Forum

Please, people...use that gray, slimy stuff between your ears. It serves a purpose far more useful than keeping your eyes from sliding back into your skull.

Edited September 5, 2005 by neverreborn

[neverreborn]

Heh that's very cool.  I also find the fact the praire dogs have developed a seperate word for "human" particularly fascinating.

726983[/snapback]

That would, indeed, be fascinating. I would have preferred a link to the study(studies) that demonstrated that claim.

[neverreborn]

(snip) I had no idea rats could laugh. (snip)

727514[/snapback]

I still don't know it. Sadly, the author of the article failed to provide a link to the study or studies on rat laughter. I would certainly enjoy reading about that, wouldn't you?

[neverreborn]

It is indeed amazing what many animals are capable of understanding and doing, they are just constantly amazing us supposedly superior humans!

728680[/snapback]

Gee whiz! I certainly wouldn't have included the word 'supposedly' in that statement but, perhaps, I'm just not understanding your point.

Humans are, indeed, vastly superior to other animals in certain ways and other animals are vastly superior to humans in different ways. Some earthworms, for instance, can impregnate themselves. Even though this isn't the normal mode of reproduction, it is a skill that would be very useful in case of a global disaster. Earthworm sex

In the case of this parrot, however, no superiority in understanding the mathematical concept of zero has been demonstrated. On the other hand, I'd love it if Alex could come up with a way that I could fly without the use of an aircraft. Think of the money I'd save.