Pepperberg(Parrot) Flashcards
What is the aim of this study?
To see whether a parrot could use vocal labels to demonstrate a symbolic understanding of the concepts same and different
What is symbolic representation?
When the concept of sameness or difference learned from one experience can be applied to an entirely new and different situation
What method and design of this study?
It was an animal case study involving one subject who was trained and tested over a couple of years
Who was the subject of this case study?
An African Grey Parrot named Alex
Before this study Alex had been what?
He was a test subject in other research on communication and cognition for
around ten years
When he wasn’t being studied, how was Alex treated?
He had free access to the whole laboratory and was confined in a wire cage at night. He was fed a diet suitable for his species and given toys to play with
How many times a week was Alex trained/studied?
Two to four times a week
How long did each session last?
Five minutes and one hour
Alex participated in other studies besides this one, true or false?
True
What training method was used on Alex in this study?
Model/rival or M/R approach
One human in Model/rival approach acts as trainer, what does he do?
Acts as trainer to the second human by presenting the second with objects, then asking questions about the objects and offering reward or praise to
desirable responses
The second human/learner in M/R approach acts as a what to the parrot?
A model
What does the second human or learner is seen as what by the parrot?
A rival and competes for the trainer’s attention
The roles of the M/R did what?
Reverse
In the study a system of continuous reinforcement was used, what is it?
When a learner receives a reward for a desirable behaviour it could one of several rewards that have already been scheduled will be used
During training on same/different, the trainer would ask the model what type of questions?
“What’s the same” or “What’s different”
If the learner responded with the right category label what would happen?
He would be rewarded by being given the object
If the learner responded with the wrong category label what would happen?
He would be scolded and have the object taken away
Prior to this study what labels did Alex already know?
The labels of color and shape
The secondary trainers who tested Alex were what?
People who hadn’t previously worked with him
How were the materials paired?
From a selection given to a student who had nothing to do with the study
The process of pairing the materials made this study what?
Unbiased
The set of questions used in each trial were what?
Randomly ordered
What type of questions were used in order to prevent boredom?
“What color, How many, and What shape?”
The two objects presented to Alex in each trial were what?
Different in one of three categories: shape, color, material
Regarding the objects what two trials were there?
Familiar items(Familiar trial) or one or both items that were new to Alex(novel trials)
In each trial what was the principal trainer doing?
He was sat facing away from Alex and could not see the objects being presented to him
If Alex’s response was correct what happened?
He was rewarded with praise and given the items
When recording data if Alex go the response right the first time, what would it be considered?
It would count towards the first trial response rate data
What would happen if Alex’s response was incorrect?
He was told “no” and the object was removed while the trainer turned their head away from Alex(known as a timeout). They would do this until correct response was given.
During all of Alex’s trials what was the data
He correctly responded 99/129 trials(76.6%), this was both first trial responses and those that needed correcting
What were Alex’s ‘first trial only’ results involving familiar objects
69/99 or (69.7%)
What was the purpose of using novel objects in certain trials?
To measure the extent to which Alex could generalize his understanding and communication around the concepts of ‘same’ and ‘different’ to entirely new situations
On ‘all trials’ involving novel objects what were the findings?
He scored 96/113 or 85%
On ‘first trial only’ involving novel objects what were the findings?
79/96 or 82.3%
The researchers suggest Alex performed better on novel trials compared to familiar object trials because?
He was motivated to get the object as a reward as he was curious
The main conclusion of this study is what?
That parrots have the potential to demonstrate comprehension of the symbolic concepts of same and different
What is another conclusion that was found in this study?
That parrots can learn to respond to verbal questions to vocalize categorical labels
What is another conclusion that was found in this study?
That parrots can learn to respond to verbal questions to vocalize categorical labels
How is the sample a weakness of this study?
Only involves one male African Grey Parrot, makes it difficult to generalize
Alex being a trained laboratory animal is a weakness in what way?
He can’t represent the population as a whole
How is Alex becoming bored during the study a weakness?
He would harm himself
A strength of this study is validity, in what ways was it maintained and improved?
The question order and material were selected by a student who had nothing to do with the study. The trainer conducting the trials had no previous connection to Alex
Alex being unfamiliar with the people conducting the study meant what?
That researcher bias was limited and Alex wouldn’t respond or show demand characteristics
Quantitative data was collected how is this a strength?
An objective analysis was capable of being made on whether or not Alex understood the concepts
Collecting quantitative data 2 seperate types trials meant that researchers could do what?
They could compare both the novel familiar ones
Was Alex well treated and not physically harmed?
yes
What may be consider unethical about using this species in a study?
Unethical
