Re: Alex, The African Gray


"Michael Olea" <oleaj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:NHnjh.37776$wP1.22225@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Last august, I attended a seminar featuring Irene Pepperburg discussing
the
"cognitive abilities" of Alex, her African Gray parrot. Unfortunately
Irene, who must be 60-something, is not only still a babe, but she wore a
blue denim micro mini-skirt to the podium! I was completly distracted for
a
good 15 minutes before homing in on her comments about the alledged rather
subtle distinction she claimed between her mimetic methods and standard
operant conditioning. I took a few notes, and sauntered up after the
lecture, meaning to ask some hard questions. Nothing doing - I melted like
ice in summer - my hard qeustion, eyes averted: "you're in the MIT media
lab - ever cross paths with Minsky?" No, not too often, she said, be we do
have lunch now and then - his wife owns a parrot...

Should you manage to overcome your priapistic proclivities, I would be
interested in her arguments concerning why Alex's behavior is not operant.



-- Star-struck





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