darth_mint Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Nicky, my Grey, is maybe 2-3 years old (this is a guess based on his behaviour) and after observing the level of intelligence he's showing so far, I decided to try and teach him to read. I got an unexpected result... This evening I wrote out a few words on a pad, spelling them out loud letter by letter and then saying the whole word. He stared for a long time, and then instead of repeating any of the words or letters, he said "Book". Now, this little boy can recognize a paperback or hardcover book and gets treats for saying "book" when he's shown one...and I would give a LOT to know if he actually made the connection between "book", the conventional books he sees and a stack of papers with letters written on them. If Nicky really managed to grasp "book" as not just an item but as a concept. It's a level of abstract thought that boggles me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth_mint Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 I'm going to go on trying to teach him to read. Results will be posted here as they happen, well, IF they happen B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Hey now watch out teaching them to read. Before you know it the world will be run by Greys and we wouldn't have jobs.:lol: Except for cleaning up after them, scratching their head and intertaining them. Which is what we do now.:lol: Interesting concept. Keep us posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyparrot Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I believe Irene Pepperberg was teaching Alex number recognition. I am unsure if she ever started basic reading. Steve n Misty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFGriffith Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I want to teach Tango to recognize numbers, then how to read a clock. That way I can say, "Tango, I'll be back at 5." I think it would be neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaM Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 darth_mint wrote: This evening I wrote out a few words on a pad, spelling them out loud letter by letter and then saying the whole word... That in itself would be a miracle around here. The second I pick up a pencil with Kenya around she grabs it and throws it on the floor. She has something seriously against pencils/pens I guess! Keep us posted on your progress. It is interesting to think that he applied the word book in a broader scope than the items he was previously shown. Best of luck with this... Lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidH Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Alex could do math up to sum of six. That's not merely memorizing numbers in order, it's actual math. For example, when Alex was shown a random set of triangles, squares, circles, etc. and asked "How many are circles?" he would get the right answer 80% of the time. Or he might be asked to count the red objects in a set of several colors. Sounds like Nicky may understand that paper with marks on it = BOOK. That's already an amazing level of abstraction. It might actually be MORE impressive if he DOESN'T understand what reading is. For example, you might expect him to get "food" as a concept because he's generalizing about all the things he eats when hungry. But "book" is not at all relevant to his psychology or physiology, so figuring anything out about it is much harder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 EFGriffith wrote: I want to teach Tango to recognize numbers, then how to read a clock. That way I can say, "Tango, I'll be back at 5." I think it would be neat. Now that would be very interesting to see if they could grasp the concept of time. If you really pursue this, please keep us updated on it. The fact that Nicky seemingly abstracted paper/writing = book is amazing in and of itself. It seems we Parrot owners and scientists such as Dr. Pepperburg. Just keep finding very amazing thought abilities in our Parrots, especially African Greys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janfromboone Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Looking forward to your posts. Even if he doesn't learn to read there is no telling what your are going to teach this bird. Keep your open mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rierie Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 That would be cute,,, but if you run late you might get into some trouble..... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen's Mom Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Hi Steve n Misty - Irene Pepperberg wrote papers on teaching phonics to African Greys. (sp) - She was teaching (I believe it was Alex, might have been one of the others) to understand the sounds of letters. By teaching him the sounds of sssshhh.. bbb,, chaa... etc via colored letters . Well Alex was saying them correctly and would ask in-between ("want a nut") - Irene kept putting him off, asking him to continue sounding out the words. This went on while Alex grew more frustrated asking for a nut. Finally he said: "Want A Nuu--uhh--tt". Now tell me that bird was not smart. If you truly want to read some fascinating information of what they are capable of, read "Alex and Me" - or look up Irene Pepperberg's published writings. (the book is awesome - though I will warn you in advance that Alex died at 30) - Her published works are very dry, as they are for the psychology venue.. but still fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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