Xref: utzoo sci.psychology:136 rec.birds:501 sci.bio:1034
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!amdahl!nsc!voder!blia!heather
From: heather@blia.BLI.COM (Heather Mackinnon)
Newsgroups: sci.psychology,rec.birds,sci.bio
Subject: Re: Intelligent Parrots, or Self-deception and Gullibility.
Message-ID: <4416@blia.BLI.COM>
Date: 30 Mar 88 22:58:01 GMT
References: <910@udccvax1.acs.udel.EDU>
Organization: Britton Lee, Los Gatos, CA
Lines: 25

In article <910@udccvax1.acs.udel.EDU>, arti@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Arti Nigam) writes:
> In article <4400@blia.BLI.COM> heather@blia.BLI.COM (Heather Mackinnon) writes:
> >
> >> The whole Conditioning-Only argument as "proof" that an animal has not 
> >> exhibited intelligence behaviour is also becoming a tired one (in my humble
> >
> >It is certainly true that human children learn to manipulate symbols via
> >an intensive conditioning process that begins in early infancy.  Children
> >are taught via repetition, positive and negative reinforcement.  If we call
> >this "learning" in human children, why shouldn't we call it "learning" in
> >other animals?  If human children exhibit "intelligence" when they master
> 
> Is it really true?  I assume you are speaking of language acquisition.

Actually, I was talking about the ability to do the task the parrot performed.
From what I understood, the parrot would indicate whether two objects were
the same or different shape and color.  Children learn to do this exercise
by repetition and reinforcement.

Language acquisition and learning to read are not well enough understood
in humans for me to feel comfortable with comparisons between language
acquisition in humans and other sorts of learning in human or non-human
animals.  But I personally suspect that repetition and reinforcement are
important in learning to speak.

Heather Mackinnon