In my last post, I reported that one of my parrots had combined words into a new phrase and applied it to a new stimulus spontaneously. It looks like he is starting to talk in short sentences. He took "Dog" and "Come Here" and started saying "Dog, Come Here" when he hears my wife whistle.
From experience, I would say that it looks like this parrot does much more than mimic sounds at random. It looks like he applies the sounds he knows to appropriate and often unconditioned situations. Irene Pepperbergs studies with the African Grey parrot Alex show that parrots have an ability to understand and use abstract concepts and communicate using combinations of words. Alex easily identifies different shapes and colors and materials and will ask for specific items such as "Want wood".
In thinking over what is going on with my parrot, I have considered whether "Dog, Come here" is the same as my dog combining prevously learned behaviors when trying to offer a stronger or new behavior when a click is withheld when expected by the dog. "I didn't get the click. Maybe if I lift my paw AND cock my head to the side? Let's try that." "What if I roll over TWICE?"
No, that doesn't seem to be the same as "Dog, Come here".
My dog has a bell by the door. He rings it when he wants our attention by the door. At this point, that could be that 1) he wants the door open, 2) his water dish is empty, or 3) he would like some more food. I need to work with him on more distinct signals, but that works for now - when the bell rings, I know he wants one of those 3 things (he has me trained pretty well). Sometimes, he will ring the bell and when I come over, he will touch his water dish or food dish. His communication is, "Hey, over here by the door. Look at my water dish." or "Want Water". Is that the same as combining words in dog language? Maybe?
No, it might be somewhat comparable, and it is interesting to think about, but I don't think it is at quite the same level as "Dog, come here". But, in dog, maybe it is.
Many people will say that parrots cannot use language - but from what I am observing (and from studies with animals like Alex), I can't quite believe that some, like Kilo, are NOT using langauge. So, I wonder - does my dog have a langauge that makes perfect sense to him that he is trying in frustration to teach me? I think so.
