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Alex the African Grey died on September 6 at the age of 31. According to the obit in the Economist, Irene Pepperberg, a theoretical chemist who worked with Alex, had worked with Alex to the point that he "had the intelligence of a five-year-old child and had not yet reached his full potential. He had a vocabulary of 150 words. He knew the names of 50 objects and could, in addition, describe the colours, shapes and the materials they were made from. He could answer questions about objects' properties, even when he had not seen that particular combination of properties before. He could ask for things - and would reject a proffered item and ask again if it was not what he wanted. He understood, and could discuss, the concepts of 'bigger,' 'smaller,' 'same' and 'different.' And he could count up to six, including the number zero (and he was grappling with the concept of 'seven' when he died). He even knew when and how to apologize if he annoyed Dr Pepperberg or her collaborators."
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, September 29, 2007 at 08:27 AM
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