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DR. IRENE PEPPERBERG
Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D., FAAS, FAPS, FAPA, FABS is founder and
president of
The Alex Foundation. She is also
Research Associate, Harvard University and
Adjunct Associate Professor, Brandeis University.
Irene is a scientist noted for her studies in animal cognition,
particularly
in relation to parrots. She is well
known for her comparative studies into the cognitive fundamentals of
language and communication, and was one of the first to try to extend
work on language learning in animals other than humans (exemplified by
the
Washoe Project) to a bird species. She is also active in
wildlife conservation, especially in relation to parrots.
Although parrots have long been known for their capacities in vocal
mimicry, Irene set out to show that their vocal behavior could
have the characteristics of human language. She worked intensively with
a single African Grey Parrot, Alex, and reported that he acquired a
large vocabulary and used it in a sophisticated way, which is often
described as similar to that of a two year old child.
Irene and
her colleagues have sought to show that Alex can differentiate meaning
and syntax, so that his use of vocal communication is unlike the
relatively inflexible forms of "instinctive" communication that are
widespread in the animal kingdom. Although such results are always
likely to be controversial, and working intensively with a single
animal always incurs the risk of
Clever Hans effects, her work
has strengthened the argument that humans do not hold the monopoly on
the complex or semicomplex use of abstract communication.
Some researchers believe that the training method that Irene used
with Alex, (called the model-rival technique) holds promise for
teaching autistic and other learning-disabled children who have
difficulty learning language, numerical concepts and empathy. When some
autistic children were taught using the same methods Irene
devised to teach parrots, their response exceeded expectations.
From work with the single subject Alex, Irene and her colleagues
have gone on to study additional African Grey Parrots, and also parrots
of other species. A final evaluation of the importance of her work will
probably depend on the success of these attempts to generalize it to
other individuals.
She authored
The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey
Parrots,
Lessons from cognitive ethology: Animal models for ethological
computing, and
Vocal learning in grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus): effects of social
interaction, reference, and context,
coauthored
Lack of referential vocal learning from LCD video by Grey Parrots
(Psittacus erithacus),
Development of Piagetian object permanence in a Grey parrot
(Psittacus
erithacus), and
Number comprehension by a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus),
including
a zero-like concept,
and coedited
Animal Cognition in Nature: The Convergence of Psychology and
Biology
in Laboratory and Field.
Her awards include the
Frank A. Beach Comparative Psychology Award from the American
Psychological
Association in 2006, Bunting Fellow, Radcliffe Institute in
2004,
Fellow, AAAS in 2001,
Selby Fellow, Australian Academy of Sciences in 2000,
Fellow, American Psychological Society in 1999,
Fellow, American Ornithologists' Union in 1998,
John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996,
Fellow, American Psychological Association in 1996, and
Fellow, Animal Behavior Society in 1994.
Irene earned her B.S. in Chemistry at MIT in 1969, her M.A. in
Chemistry at Harvard in 1971 and her Ph.D. in Chemical Physics at
Harvard in 1976.
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