Describe 1 result of test on Alex the parrot that used familiar objects
- Alex’s score was 76.6% for all trials
- Alex perfromed worse for familiar than novel objets
Describe 1 conclsuion from this study
- Subject was African grey parrot showed symbolic comprehension/cognitive ability of concepts same/diff
Explain procedure of ‘model/rival’ technique
- human acts as trainer to 2nd human
- present objects + ask q’s abt objects like “whats same” and “whats diff”
- given praise/rewarded for correct answers
- show disapproval of incorrect answers
- 2nd human acts as model for parrot + acts as rival for trainers attention
- parrot is allowed to participate in ANY verbal exchange
Aim
- to investigate if a parrot could understand concept of same/diff
- comphrend symbolic understanding of same diff
3 categories were used in training Alex, 1st was color, 2nd was shape
- What was 3rd
- Matter/‘Mah-Mah
Outline one result abt performance of Alex parrot from ‘probes’ q
- Alex scored higher accuracy/90% overall
- Alex scored lower/89% on 1st trials only
Describe 2 assumptions of learning approach
- SLT helps to explain changes in behavior, a child may match an adult being aggressive + then copy behaviour
- Stimulus reponse can explain behaviour in classical conditong like dog may salivate after bell has been rung
Explain 1 finding of pepperberg that supports assmtpion of learning approach
- alex scored well above chance on 1/3 tests for same/diff w/ familiar objects as he was rewarded (conditioned) during training/testing
- alex learnt concept of same/diff through model-rival technique showing he could imitate + observe
State 1 questions that Alex was asked during training phase of study
- What’ same?
- Whats diff?
Give example of object that would be presented at same time as blue wooden triangle, during a probes trial
- yellow wooden triangle
- blue wooden square
Outline 1 ethical guidline that is impt for pepperberg to consider when deigning this study
- Replacement - research time need to have considered technological alternatives like video footage
- Number - reserach teams need to use min amount of animals necessary to fulfill aim + was only parrot in study
- Deprivation- research team should not withold food/basic needs to test social behaviour
Outline first 3 steps when asked a Q
- Attend to multiple aspects of 2 diff objects
- From vocal question determine whether response based on sameness or difference
- Work out what was SAME or DIFF
Describe what Alex was allowed to do during non sleeping hrs when he was NOT being used in trial
- allowed free access to all parts of lab
- had to be contingent in correct vocalisation e.g wanna go gym
- he was allowed to eat any standard food/drink as much water as he wanted
- he could request fresh fruit/veggies
- he could request toys
Outline why this study supports nurture side
- Alex taught how to use same/diff so learnt
- alex rewarded for his efforts + got better at skill of same/diff showing this was learnt
- learnt skills through operant conditioning/model-rival
- Alex had already learned some vocab in previous study
Describe psych concept being investigated
-SLT = This is when a person/animal observes and imitates a chosen behaviour
- Animal cognition= This is about whether non-humans have the ability to think and reason
- same + diff/symbolic understanding= This is about understanding whether two objects share a feature such as matter or not
- Operant conditions is when you learn by consequences of your behaviour = reward + punishment
- Organism must feel motivated to replicate via vicarious reinforcement (seeing others rewarded for behaviour)
Identify 2 colors that Alex the parrot could already name before this study began
- rose/red
- grey
- green
- blue
- yellow
Outline 1 result from ‘Transfer tests with NOVEL objects’
- Alex’s score was 85% correct on all trials
- Alex’s score was 82.3% on first trial perfromance
Suggest 1 real life application
- by using model/rival technique the child can learn concepts through rewards/engaging w/ model/rival
- Service dogs may be taught which tablets are same/different for people who need help identifying the correct medication e.g diabetic owners insulin vs other tablets
Describe how “transfer tests with novel objects” were conducted on Alex parrot during study
- Alex presented w/ pairs of objects that combined attributes never used in training
- Also had not been used in any previous tests asking same/diff
Outline one methodological weakness of this study.
- The sample size was one, making generalisability difficult
- Alex may have been different to other parrots so he may not represent wild parrots as had prior training
Outline one methodological strength of this study.
- standerdized to aid replicability + increase reliability
- e.g during training phase all objects red, blue, green
- e.g prinicpal trainer always present during test but sat w/ back to ALex
ethical weakness
- Alex isolated caged housed UNETHICAL + Parrots are social animals so may feel distressed/lonely due to lack of socialization
- punishment should be avoided as ‘no’ yelled at him when answered incorrectly can be distressing.
describe what prinicpal trainer does during ‘test procedure’
- sit in room w/ back to parrot
- DID NOT look at parrot during presentation of test objects
- repeated out loud what parrot said
- decided if reponse incorrect/correct
how overall test score calculated
- number of correct identificiations/ total number of presentations required
