By Irene M. Pepperberg. 240 pp., illustrated. New York, Collins, 2008. $23.95 (cloth); $18.95 (e-book). ISBN 978-0-06-167247-7 (cloth); 978-0-06-171723-9 (e-book).
The question "What matter?" is put to Alex the parrot by animalbehaviorist Irene Pepperberg, who wants him to differentiateamong wood, paper, and wool. Forget for a moment that Alex isquite a character, a bird who shamelessly manipulates his humanhandlers, obstinately demands nuts before he will continue trainingsessions, condescendingly corrects other birds, and poses questionsto make sense of the world — all this with a brain thesize of a nut. Alex and other psittacines, as well as birdsfrom the corvid family, identify objects, colors, and materials,use ordinal and cardinal numbers, and formulate . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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