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Résumé :
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Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) have been shown to exhibit many complex cognitive and communicative abilities in a laboratory setting. The parrots' successes likely rely on two factors: An underlying neurological architecture that supports complex information processing, and training that enables them to express their capacities in ways measurable by human researchers. Individual differences likely can affect both factors, in terms of biology for the former and in response to the quality of the latter, but the quality of the latter can be experimentally controlled. Although training my parrots to communicate in English speech generally enables me to demonstrate their advanced cognitive capacities, occasionally such training has interfered with success on tasks requiring a specific type of complex information processing. For two cohorts of parrots, one with and one without extensive communicative training, I describe here the results for two different tasks. In one task-the ability to segment English speech sounds and demonstrate phonological awareness-communication training, as expected, enhanced success [IM Pepperberg (2007) Lang Sci 29:1-13]. In the other task-retrieval of an item suspended from a long string to demonstrate means ends understanding-communication training unexpectedly inhibited success [IM Pepperberg (2004) Anim Cogn 7: 263-266]. Individual differences can therefore be expressed in ways that are not necessarily predictable and that encourage further experimentation.
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