Meet Alex!

Those of you who own and love animals have found a connection between you and your pet. Many people claim that their animal understands them and can even communicate. It was a common misconception that only the large brain of a primate could handle solving problems which involved language and understanding. That was until Alex the parrot.

Animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg bought Alex from a pet store in 1977 and worked with him for 30 years. During this time he learned shapes, colors, and to add. He is the first known animal to ask a question. One day while looking in the mirror he asked “what color?” He soon learned the color grey when he was told what color is was six times.

When he was done with testing he would say “wanna go back,” and if he was taken to a location he didn’t want to go to he would continue to say “wanna go” until he was taken to his desired location.

He also showed understanding to emotions. If the researcher displayed frustration, Alex would respond with “I’m sorry.” Alex began to show boredom similar to a child. During an activity where there was two red blocks, three blue, and four green he was asked what color had three. Though he had done this task before and knew the answer was blue, Alex continued to reply “five” whenever asked. Finally the researcher asked, what color has five blocks, to which Alex responded “none.”

Showing a recognition to language, he referred to apples as “banerry.” The two fruits he was most familiar with were banana and cherry. So researchers took “banerry” to be a combination of the two when he saw the apple.

Thanks to the many things learned from working with Alex, we have a better idea of just how much animals do understand. Maybe that is why they make such great companions!

Want to find out more about Alex: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_%28parrot%29