{"id":35087,"date":"2022-05-18T18:05:05","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T23:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=35087"},"modified":"2024-12-02T13:03:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T19:03:55","slug":"inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-numerical-abilities-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-alexs-numerical-abilities-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Alex\u2019s Numerical Abilities \u2014 Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently gave a talk that reviewed Alex\u2019s<\/a> numerical abilities and realized that I had never discussed this issue in a blog. The material is far from new, but worth reviewing because Alex\u2019s number studies<\/a> were unique in several ways.<\/p>\n

Not only was he the only nonhuman who used vocal labels (rather than, for example, a point to a specific group or Arabic numeral), but he was also trained in a very unusual manner. And he outperformed some of the other nonhumans on certain tasks as well. I\u2019m not going to discuss all of Alex\u2019s numerical abilities here. That would make this blog as long as a book chapter! But I\u2019ll start the process this month; as the saying goes,\u201cto be continued!”<\/p>\n

Alex\u2019s ability to vocally produce his number labels gave us certain advantages. First, we didn\u2019t have to control for inadvertent cuing, such as somehow indicating which numeral he should choose from amongst a physical set (the ape studies were extremely careful, but they did have to include these controls). Second, because he could say anything he wanted \u2014 even non-number labels, for example. We could find out a bit more about exactly how he was processing information. This is something I\u2019ll discuss briefly below and more in subsequent blogs.<\/p>\n

How We Learn Numbers<\/h3>\n

When children learn their numbers, they start with the label \u201c1.\u201d Usually, they are about 2 years old before they begin to understand the concept of \u201c1\u201d versus \u201cmany.\u201d It takes about another nine months before they understand \u201c1\u201d versus \u201c2\u201d versus \u201cmany,\u201d and another five months to add \u201c3\u201d (see Carey, 2009). Around that time, they also begin to repeat a number line in order (e.g., can list their numerals, often well beyond \u201c3\u201d). At first, they don\u2019t generally say them in the correct order.<\/p>\n

However, even when they get the order correct, they understand the line about as well as they understand their ABCs at that point. They think LMNOP is one letter. They learned what is essentially a rote phrase. A few months later, about the time they add \u201c4,\u201d they gain a critical insight: They recognize the connection between their number line and the numeral labels they have learned to associate with quantity. They realize that each successive numeral in the number list is exactly one more than its predecessor (Carey, 2009). They then quickly understand what the next numbers in the list mean, and no longer have to be taught each number in turn.<\/p>\n

Alex, however, did not learn his numbers this way!<\/p>\n

Alex’s Unique Approach To Numbers<\/h3>\n
\"black
Figure 1: Objects set in a random array. Image courtesy Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We started training Alex on \u201c3\u201d and \u201c4,\u201d because he already knew something about those labels. He already knew to identify a triangle as \u201c3-corner\u201d and a square as \u201c4-corner.\u201d Thus, he could already pronounce those labels. He probably understood something about their relationship to the quantities of corners (if nothing else, that the square had more “corners” than the triangle).<\/p>\n

It took him a few months of Model\/Rival training to transfer use of these labels to a few sets of objects. We then had to test him on novel sets, so that he couldn\u2019t be responding based on things like mass, density, or contour. In order to claim he was answering with respect to number, he had to be able to identify three big pieces of wood as well as three small pieces of paper, and do the same even for objects for which he had no labels! The labels \u201c3\u201d and \u201c4\u201d had to mean the same thing for every possible set of items.<\/p>\n

Adding To Alex’s Numerical Abilities<\/h3>\n

We then taught him \u201c2\u201d and \u201c5\u201d\u2014 one more and one less than the numbers he knew. It took him two months to learn \u201c2\u201d and six months to learn \u201c5.\u201d The \u201cf\u201d and \u201cv\u201d sounds are difficult for parrots, because they don’t have lips. At first, his attempts sounded too much like \u201chide.\u201d (BTW: Griffin<\/a> refuses to learn \u201c5,\u201d probably for the same reason!)<\/p>\n

We then introduced \u201c1\u201d and \u201c6.\u201d It took another two months for him to learn \u201c6.\u201d Interestingly, it took over a year for him to learn \u201c1.\u201d It seemed that he didn\u2019t understand why it was necessary. He had always been able to obtain a single object by just saying its label. Insisting that he now add a number label appeared to confuse him \u2014 even though the question was \u201cHow many?\u201d instead of \u201cWhat\u2019s here?\u201d He had previously, occasionally made what we called\u00a0 \u201cgeneric\u201d errors on other numbers when he gave us only the label of the object in response to \u201cHow many?\u201d For \u201c1,\u201d the problem at first was not occasional! It took quite a bit of training to get him to attend to what we wanted.<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t start training him on \u201c7\u201d and \u201c8\u201d for many years, because we were doing many other studies. He learned \u201c8\u201d almost immediately, because he knew how to say the label \u201cgrate.\u201d The label \u201c7\u201d took about a year. He kept saying \u201csss-one,\u201d again omitting that difficult \u201cv\u201d sound. I\u2019ll come back to \u201c7\u201d and \u201c8\u201d next time. Those numbers were part of a very important, separate study (Pepperberg & Carey, 2012).<\/p>\n

Exploring Nonhuman, Numerical Abilities<\/h3>\n

We had really good data early on that Alex had acquired an exact understanding of his number labels \u201c1\u201d through \u201c6\u201d (Pepperberg, 1987). He responded just like two apes, Sheba (Boysen & Berntson, 1989) and Ai (Matsuzawa, 1985), who had also learned the meaning of these Arabic numerals. Thus these three nonhumans had done something far beyond what other nonhumans had achieved. Most nonhumans (and children before they actually learn their number labels) have a limited understanding of quantity; they engage in something called the \u201capproximate number system<\/a>\u201d or ANS (see Halberta & Feigenson, 2008).<\/p>\n

Specifically, almost every nonhuman studied can demonstrate exact numerical understanding of \u201c1,\u201d \u201c2,\u201d and \u201c3,\u201d but then get fuzzy at the larger numbers. When asked to identify \u201c4,\u201d for example, they confuse the quantity with \u201c3\u201d and \u201c5.\u201d And as the numbers get larger, they make more mistakes and the range of errors widens, too. If asked to identify \u201c8,\u201d they not only often confuse it with \u201c7\u201d and \u201c9\u201d but also with \u201c6\u201d and \u201c10.\u201d Thus, they understand only \u201capproximately 8.\u201d When Alex and the two apes erred, their errors were usually random, caused by lack of attention, rather than produced as an approximation.<\/p>\n

\"three
Figure 2: Subsets of objects. Image courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Proving Alex Understood<\/h3>\n

Of course, to be certain that Alex really did understand his numbers, we had to eliminate other confounds in addition to mass, density, and contour. We thus made sure he could identify objects in random arrays (see Figure 1), so that he wasn\u2019t recognizing a pattern (think of dominoes or dice, or triangles and squares). And we also needed to show that he could identify subsets (e.g., \u201cHow many cork?\u201d versus \u201cHow many key?\u201d Figure 2): Young children who don\u2019t quite understand their numbers cannot separate out subsets (Greeno et al., 1984; Siegel, 1982). We also had to ensure that, unlike some nonhumans who understood large numbers only approximately, Alex wasn\u2019t doing something like clumping small groups he could recognize with the ANS (e.g., learn that two groups of 3 were \u201c6\u201d without actually understanding \u201c6″). We, therefore, gave him a complex task given to humans (see Figure 3, Trick & Pylyshyn, 1989).<\/p>\n

\"red
Figure 3: Multiple objects defined by multiple attributes. Image courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The researchers performing the study determined that humans couldn\u2019t use a clumping mechanism and the ANS when asked to identify the number of a subset of objects defined by multiple attributes in a very complicated array (e.g., \u201cHow many blue wood?\u201d versus \u201cHow many blue wool?\u201d versus \u201cHow many red wood?\u201d versus \u201cHow many red wool?\u201d, Figure 3), but always had to perform an exact quantification for every set.<\/p>\n

If Alex were, like the humans, unable to clump in order to use the ANS, he would have made more errors on the larger numbers and his errors would always have been labels that were close to the correct response \u2014 but that wasn\u2019t the case! He was just as accurate on the large as the small numbers, and his errors were random (Pepperberg, 1994). So, we had clear evidence that Alex could produce the correct number label in the presence of a corresponding set of objects. That was a big step in learning about his number sense.<\/p>\n

However, you\u2019ll notice that throughout this article, I never use the word \u201ccount\u201d or \u201ccounting.\u201d The reason is that counting is a very special ability, much more complicated than just being able to label sets of objects \u2014 something that I\u2019ll discuss next time.<\/p>\n

References<\/em><\/p>\n

Boysen, S. T. and Berntson, G. G. (1989). Numerical competence in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 103, 23\u201331.<\/em><\/p>\n

Carey, S. (2009). The Origin of Concepts. New York: Oxford University Press.<\/em><\/p>\n

Greeno, J. G., Riley, M. S. & Gelman, R. (1984). Conceptual competence and children\u2019s counting. Cognitive Psychology, 16, 94\u2013143.<\/em><\/p>\n

Halberda, J., & Feigenson, L. (2008). Developmental change in the acuity of the \u2018\u2018number sense\u2019\u2019: The approximate number system in 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds and adults. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1457\u20131465.<\/em><\/p>\n

Matsuzawa, T. (1985). Use of numbers by a chimpanzee. Nature, 315, 57\u201359.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I. M. (1987). Evidence for conceptual quantitative abilities in the African Grey parrot: labeling of cardinal sets. Ethology, 75, 37\u201361.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I. M. (1994). Evidence for numerical competence in an African Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Journal of Comparative Psychology, 108, 36\u201344.<\/em><\/p>\n

Pepperberg, I. M. & Carey, S. (2012). Grey parrot number acquisition: the inference of cardinal value from ordinal position on the numeral list. Cognition, 125, 219\u2013232.<\/em><\/p>\n

Siegel, L. S. (1982). The development of quantity concepts: perceptual and linguistic factors. In Children\u2019s Logical and Mathematical Cognition, ed. C. J. Brainerd. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 123\u2013155.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trick, L. & Pylyshyn, Z. (1989). Subitizing and the FNST spatial index model. University of Ontario, Ontario, Canada, COGMEM #44.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg talks about how African grey Alex didn’t learn his numbers in the traditional sense, especially when compared to young children. Alex\u2019s number studies were unique in many ways, which also allowed him to outperform some of the other nonhumans on certain tasks. Learn why Dr. Pepperberg started training Alex on the numbers \u201cthree\u201d and \u201cfour,” first as well as which number posed the biggest phonetic challenge, and more in this Part 1 of a two-part series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":15676,"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":[81,211,169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-editor-choice","category-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Alex\u2019s Numerical Abilities \u2014 Part I – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Pepperberg details the numerical abilities of 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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. 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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. 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