{"id":25651,"date":"2019-02-13T15:46:14","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T21:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=25651"},"modified":"2025-08-20T00:18:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T05:18:30","slug":"inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"African
African grey Griffin in Dr. Irene Pepperberg’s cognitive behavior research lab. Courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In previous blogs I\u2019ve talked about the importance of using \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d (inferring where something can be found after being given information about where it is absent) for examining nonhuman cognition. Many species succeed at the task at some level, but only a few exhibit a very special case of this behavior involving symbolic communication \u2014 something called mutual exclusivity <\/em>(ME).<\/em> Interestingly, African grey Griffin demonstrated something very much like ME when initially learning his labels.<\/p>\n

Some History On Mutual Exclusivity<\/h3>\n

The term was first coined by Markman (Markman & Wachtel, 1988), but was previously studied by Carey (1978) under the term fast mapping<\/em>, in experiments to determine how children acquired their early labels. The task is something like the following: A child is shown two toys that s\/he can label (e.g., a ball and a block) along with one novel object (e.g., a cherry pitter). The child is asked to give the experimenter the \u201cdax.\u201d Now, the child knows that neither the ball nor the block is ever called a \u201cdax,\u201d so, by exclusion, s\/he picks up the novel item, and thereby maps the novel label to the novel object. Shusterman (Shusterman & Krieger, 1984) used a similar strategy to teach sea lions new labels for new objects.<\/p>\n

Of course, the extent of mapping is dependent upon context \u2014 if a subject is given several of these trials at once, with several new labels (e.g., \u201cdax,\u201d, \u201cglif,\u201d \u201cnep\u201d), and then given all of the novel objects at once and then asked to choose the \u201cdax,\u201d the mapping often isn\u2019t as good as if the original trial is repeated several times; that is, with only one novel object-novel label connection. However, learning with exclusion is often faster than simple pairing of label and object, and is therefore thought to help children expand their vocabulary.<\/p>\n

More About How Mutual Exclusivity Works<\/h3>\n

ME also seems to help children eventually learn category labels and labels for attributes of objects \u2014 but not in their early stages of acquisition. Interestingly, children often have a very difficult time learning that a specific object can have two labels \u2014 here, they initially take ME too far, believing not only that every object has a name, but also only one<\/em> name. So, for example, they happily label the family pet as a \u201cdoggie,\u201d but will vehemently state \u201cNo<\/em> animal\u2026doggie!\u201d, excluding the second novel label. Obviously, at some point, they override this aspect of ME, because all normal children learn lots of labels for each of their objects. And, at that point, ME will then help them learn new attribute labels \u2014 e.g., novel colors.<\/p>\n

So, when given a yellow block, a blue block, and a vibrant pink block, and asked to give the experimenter the \u201cfuschia\u201d one, few of them hesitate in their choice\u2026not only do they know that all the objects are blocks; they also know the referents for yellow and blue, and thus use ME to infer that the novel vocalization had to refer to the color label for the novel attribute. Furthermore, if later asked if \u201cfuschia\u201d is a color, shape or a material, they say it is a color.<\/p>\n

Label Training In Parrots<\/h3>\n

So, how does Griffin fit into all this? Well, his label training differed a bit from that of Alex the African grey. When I started working with Alex in 1977, I didn\u2019t know anything about ME (it was just beginning to be studied in children), but I figured that if I wanted him to learn object labels, I\u2019d best start with items that had very few other attributes, such as color and shape. So, for example, \u201cpaper\u201d referred to pieces of a white index card, \u201cwood\u201d to uncolored tongue depressors, and \u201chide\u201d to amorphously shaped pieces of rawhide. He had no problem learning these labels (Pepperberg, 1981).<\/p>\n

When it came time to teach color labels, I dyed several objects with one shade of food color, and then we modeled \u201cWhat color?\u201d with responses of \u201cgreen paper,\u201d \u201cgreen wood,\u201d so that the attribute \u2014 the color green \u2014 was an additional label rather than a second, separate label, and that two items with different object labels had only that one particular novel attribute in common. Again, Alex had no trouble learning color labels and, in the same way, shape labels (Pepperberg, 1981, 1983). By the time Griffin came on the scene, however, all the various objects in the lab came in all sorts of colors and shapes, and we decided to see if that made any difference when teaching him his labels.<\/p>\n

Griffin Tackles ME<\/h3>\n

Therefore, Griffin learned labels for objects by seeing several differently colored versions of the same item \u2014 e.g., green, blue, yellow wooden sticks or pompons \u2014 and humans responding to the questions \u201cWhat matter?\u201d appropriately. He was able to infer that, because the various groups of wood or wool had different color, but common material, attributes \u2014 those materials were called \u201cwood\u201d or \u201cwool.\u201d And when we taught him color labels for a group of variously colored but otherwise identical cups, he also learned to respond to \u201cWhat color?\u201d with those color labels. So far, no problem. But what would happen when we tried to get him to learn attribute labels not as additional, but as alternate labels, for the various items he could already label? Specifically, what would happen if we showed him a woolen pompon and asked, \u201cWhat color?\u201d instead of the usual \u201cWhat matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

ME then came into play: Indeed, when asked \u201cWhat color?\u201d for an item for which he already had a label (\u201cwool\u201d), he at first ignored the query, rejected the color label, and responded \u201cwool\u201d (Pepperberg & Wilcox, 2001) even though he knew the appropriate color label! And he simply wouldn\u2019t learn the label \u201ccup!\u201d Just like the young children who initially used ME to exclude \u201canimal\u201d for a dog, it took months of training to get Griffin to understand that an object could be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood\u201d\u2014 and likewise with shape and novel object labels.<\/p>\n

Eventually, of course, Griffin, again like children, fully understood how objects could be categorized with respect to various different attributes, and now is as competent as was Alex with respect to labeling all these attributes (Pepperberg & Nakayama, 2016), and better than even 5-year-old children on physical tasks of inference by exclusion (Pepperberg et al., 2018). However, it was quite exciting to find that the path of label acquisition, including ME, could be so similar for species that are so evolutionarily distant!<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carey, S. The child as word learner. In M. Halle, G. Miller, and J. Bresnan (Eds), Linguistic Theory and Psychological Reality.<\/em> Cambridge: MIT Press.<\/p>\n

Markman, E.M., & Wachtel, G.F. (1988). Children’s use of mutual exclusivity to constrain the meanings of words. Cognitive Psychology<\/em>, 20<\/em>, 121-157.<\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I.M. (1981). Functional vocalizations by an African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus<\/em>). Zeitschrift fiir Tierpsychologie<\/em>, 55<\/em>, 139-160.<\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I.M. (1983). Cognition in the African Grey parrot: Preliminary evidence for auditory\/vocal comprehension of the class concept. Animal Learning & Behavior<\/em>, 11<\/em>, 179-185.<\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I.M., Gray, S.L., Cornero, F.M., Mody, S., & Carey, S. (2018). Logical reasoning by a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus<\/em>)? A case study of the disjunctive syllogism. Behaviour<\/em> DOI:10.1163\/1568539X-00003528.<\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I. M., & Nakayama, K. (2016). Robust representation of shape in a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus<\/em>). Cognition, 153, <\/em>146\u2013160.<\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I. M., & Wilcox, S. E. (2000). Evidence for a form of mutual exclusivity during label acquisition by Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus<\/em>)? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 114, <\/em>219\u2013231.<\/p>\n

Schusterman, R.J., & Krieger, K. (1984). California sea lions are capable of semantic comprehension. Psychological Record<\/em>, 34<\/em>, 3-24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Irene Pepperberg tests African grey parrot Griffin’s cognitive skills, going beyond the concept of \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d to the trickier concept of mutual exclusivity (ME). Would Griffin understand that an object could, for example, be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood?\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":25653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside Pepperberg's Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg tests African grey parrot Griffin's cognitive skills, going beyond the concept of \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d to the trickier concept of mutual exclusivity (ME). Would Griffin understand that an object could, for example, be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood?\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside Pepperberg's Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg tests African grey parrot Griffin's cognitive skills, going beyond the concept of \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d to the trickier concept of mutual exclusivity (ME). Would Griffin understand that an object could, for example, be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood?\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-13T21:46:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-20T05:18:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/GriffinCropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"795\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"794\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\"},\"headline\":\"Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-13T21:46:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-20T05:18:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1301,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/GriffinCropped.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"New\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/\",\"name\":\"Inside Pepperberg's Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/GriffinCropped.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-13T21:46:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-20T05:18:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg tests African grey parrot Griffin's cognitive skills, going beyond the concept of \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d to the trickier concept of mutual exclusivity (ME). Would Griffin understand that an object could, for example, be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood?\u201d\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/GriffinCropped.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/02\\\/GriffinCropped.jpg\",\"width\":795,\"height\":794,\"caption\":\"African grey Griffin in Dr. Irene Pepperberg's cognitive behavior research lab\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\",\"description\":\"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\",\"name\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg is a lecturer and research associate at\u00a0Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her research lab is located. You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. Read more about the lab at The Alex Foundation Facebook page and at The Alex Foundation Twitter account.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/author\\\/irene\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside Pepperberg's Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg tests African grey parrot Griffin's cognitive skills, going beyond the concept of \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d to the trickier concept of mutual exclusivity (ME). Would Griffin understand that an object could, for example, be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood?\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside Pepperberg's Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","og_description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg tests African grey parrot Griffin's cognitive skills, going beyond the concept of \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d to the trickier concept of mutual exclusivity (ME). Would Griffin understand that an object could, for example, be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood?\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/","og_site_name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","article_published_time":"2019-02-13T21:46:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-20T05:18:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":795,"height":794,"url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/GriffinCropped.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/"},"author":{"name":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d"},"headline":"Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference","datePublished":"2019-02-13T21:46:14+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-20T05:18:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/"},"wordCount":1301,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/GriffinCropped.jpg","articleSection":["New"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/","name":"Inside Pepperberg's Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/GriffinCropped.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-13T21:46:14+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-20T05:18:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d"},"description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg tests African grey parrot Griffin's cognitive skills, going beyond the concept of \u201cinference by exclusion\u201d to the trickier concept of mutual exclusivity (ME). Would Griffin understand that an object could, for example, be both \u201cgreen\u201d and \u201cwool,\u201d or \u201cblue\u201d and \u201cwood?\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/GriffinCropped.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/GriffinCropped.jpg","width":795,"height":794,"caption":"African grey Griffin in Dr. Irene Pepperberg's cognitive behavior research lab"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-pepperbergs-lab-mutual-exclusivity-in-parrots-a-special-case-of-inference\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside Pepperberg’s Lab: Mutual Exclusivity In Parrots \u2014 A Special Case Of Inference"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/","name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","description":"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d","name":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","caption":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D."},"description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg is a lecturer and research associate at\u00a0Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her research lab is located. You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. Read more about the lab at The Alex Foundation Facebook page and at The Alex Foundation Twitter account.","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/author\/irene\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44740,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25651\/revisions\/44740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}