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Dr. Irene Pepperberg

Dr. Irene Pepperberg

 

Dr. Irene Pepperberg


    Dr. Irene Pepperberg is an adjunct associate professor at the Dept. of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA.
    She is also a lecturer and research associate at Harvard University, in Cambridge, MA.


    Education
    Ph.D., Chemical Physics, Harvard University, 1976
    M.A., Chemistry, Harvard University, 1971
    S.B., Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1969


    Research Interests
    Irene Pepperberg studies Grey parrots. The main focus of her work is to determine the cognitive and communicative abilities of these birds, and compare their abilities with those of great apes, marine mammals, and young children. She is studying the mechanisms of their learning as well as the outcomes.

    Work History

    • Research Associate, Harvard University, 2005-present
    • Adjunct Associate Professor, Brandeis University, 2002-present
    • Bunting Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, 2004-2005
    • Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, 2001-2002
    • Visiting Associate Professor, The Media Lab, MIT, 1999-2000
    • Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, January, 1991-2000, with joint appointment in Department of Psychology and as an Affiliate in the Program in Neuroscience
    • Visiting Assistant Professor, Anthropology, Northwestern, 1984-1991
    • Lecturer, Psychological Sciences, Purdue, Spring, 1982
    • Research Associate in Biology, Biological Sciences, Purdue, 1979-1984
    • Postdoctoral research in animal-human communication, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue, 1977-1979
    • Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Chemistry, Harvard, July, 1976

    • Honors and Awards

      • Frank A. Beach Comparative Psychology Award, American Psychological Association, 2006
      • Bunting Fellow, Radcliffe Institute, 2004
      • Fellow, AAAS, 2001
      • Nominee, Quest Award, Animal Behavior Society, 2001
      • Selby Fellow, Australian Academy of Sciences, 2000
      • Fellow, American Psychological Society, 1999
      • Fellow, American Ornithologists' Union, 1998
      • Recipient, John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, 1996 (for calendar year 1997)
      • Fellow, American Psychological Association, 1996
      • Alternate, Cattell Award for Psychology, 1996
      • Nominee, Merit Teaching Award, 1995
      • Nominee, Distinguished Professor, 1995
      • Fellow, Animal Behavior Society, 1994
      • Recipient, UA Parents' Association, Advisor Award for Capstone Experiences, 1994
      • Nominee, UA Creative Teaching Award, 1994
      • Nominee, Professor of the Month Award, Nat'l Women's History Month, 1994
      • Nominee, AAAS Mentor Award, 1993, 1994
      • Recipient, Professor of the Month Award, Nat'l Women's History Month, 1993
      • Finalist, Five Star Faculty Award, U of A, 1992

        Selected Publications

      Pepperberg, I.M. (in press). Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) numerical abilities: addition and further experiments on a zero-like concept. J. Comp. Psychol.

      Pepperberg, I.M. & Gordon, J.D. (2005). Numerical comprehension by a Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus), including a zero-like concept. J. Comp Psychol.119: 197-209.

      Pepperberg, I.M. (2004a). Insightful string-pulling in Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) is affected by vocal competence. Anim. Cogn.7:263-266.

      Pepperberg, I.M. (2004b). Cognitive and communicative abilities of Grey Parrots: Implications for the enrichment of many species. Animal Welfare 13:S203-208

      Pepperberg,I.M. & Wilkes, S.R. (2004). Lack of referential vocal learning from LCD video by Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus)  Interaction Studies 5:75-97.

      Pepperberg, I.M. (2003). Training behavior by imitation: from parrots to people&to robots. In Proceedings of the AISB 03 Second International Symposium on Imitation in Animals and Artifacts, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, K. Dautenhan & C. Nehaniv, eds

      Pepperberg, I.M., & Sherman, D.V. (2002). A two-trainer modeling system to engender social skills in children with disabilities. Intl J. Comp. Psych. 15:138-153.

      Pepperberg, I.M. (2001). Lessons from cognitive ethology: Animal models for ethological computing.  Proceedings of the First Conference on Epigenetic Robotics,  C. Balkenius, J. Zlatev, H.  Kozima, K.  Dautenhahn, & C. Breazeal, Eds., Lund University Cognitive Science Series No. 85, Lund, Sweden, http://www.lucs.lu.se/Abstracts/LUCS_Studies/LUCS85.html (online only)

      Pepperberg, I.M. & Shive, H.A. (2001). Simultaneous development of vocal and physical object combinations by a Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus): Bottle caps, lids, and labels. J. Comp. Psych. 115:376-384.

      Pepperberg, I.M., and Lynn, S.K. (2000).  Perceptual consciousness in Grey parrots. American Zoologist 40:893-901.

      Pepperberg, I.M., Sandefer, R.M., Noel, D., & Ellsworth, C.P. (2000). Vocal learning in the Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus): Effect of species identity and number of trainers. J. Comp. Psychol. 114:371-380.

      Pepperberg, I.M., & Wilcox, S.E. (2000). Evidence for a form of mutual exclusivity during label acquisition by Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)? J. Comp. Psych. 114:219-231.

      Pepperberg, I.M., & Sherman, D. (2000). Proposed use of two-part interactive modeling as a means to increase functional skills in children with a variety of disabilities. Teaching and Learning in Medicine 12:213-220.
      Pepperberg, I.M., Gardiner, L.I., and Luttrell, L.J. (1999). Limited contextual vocal learning in the Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus): the effect of co-viewers on videotaped instruction. J. Comp. Psych. 113:158-172.
      Pepperberg, I.M., Naughton, J.R., and Banta, P.A. (1998). Allospecific vocal learning by grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus): A failure of videotaped instruction under certain conditions. Behav. Processes, 42:139-158.
      Pepperberg, I.M., Howell, K.S., Banta, P.A., Patterson, D.K. and Meister, M. (1998). Measurement of the trachea of the Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) via Magnetic Resonance Imaging, dissection and Electron Beam Computed Tomography. J. Morphol., 238:81-91.
      Patterson, D.K. and Pepperberg, I.M. (1998). A comparative study of human and Grey parrot phonation: Acoustic and articulatory correlates of stop consonants. JASA 103:2197-2213.
      Pepperberg, I.M. (1997). Social influences on the acquisition of human-based codes in parrots and nonhuman primates. Social Influences on Vocal Development, C.T. Snowdon and M. Hausberger, eds., Cambridge.
      Pepperberg, I.M., Willner, M.R., and Gravitz, L.B. (1997). Development of Piagetian object permanence in a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). J. Comp. Psych. 111:63-75.
      Patterson, D.K., Pepperberg, I.M., Story, B.H. and Hoffman, E. (1997). How parrots talk: Insights based on CT scans, image processing, and mathematical models. In SPIE Proceedings, Vol. 3033; ed. E. Hoffman. International Society for Optical Engineering.
      Pepperberg, I.M. and McLaughlin, M.A. (1996). Effect of avian-human joint attention on vocal learning by Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). J. Comp. Psych. 110:286-297.
      Warren, D.K., Patterson, D.K., and Pepperberg, I.M. (1996). Mechanisms of American English vowel production in a Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Auk 113:41-58.
      Pepperberg, I.M. (1994) Numerical competence in an African Grey parrot. J. Comp. Psych. 108:36-44.
      Patterson, D.K. and Pepperberg, I.M. (1994) A comparative study of human and parrot phonation: I. Acoustic and articulatory correlates of vowels. JASA. 96:634-648.
      Pepperberg, I.M. (1992) Proficient performance of a conjunctive, recursive task by an African Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). J. Comp. Psych. 106:295-305.
      Pepperberg, I.M. (1992) A synthesis of ethology and psychology: Effects of social interaction on learning in avian species. Proceedings from 1985 Symposium, Animal Behavior Society, The Inevitable Bond, H. Davis and D. Balfour, eds., Cambridge University Press.
      Pepperberg, I.M. (1991) Learning to communicate: The effects of social interaction. Perspectives in Ethology, P.H. Klopfer and P.P.G. Bateson, eds., Plenum.
      Pepperberg, I.M. and Schinke-Llano, L. (1991). Language acquisition and use in a bilingual environment: A framework for studying birdsong in zones of sympatry. A peer-reviewed Essay on Contemporary Issues in Ethology, 89:1-28.
      Pepperberg, I.M. (1990). An investigation into the cognitive capacities of an African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus). Advances in Study of Behavior, P.J.B. Slater, J.S. Rosenblatt, C. Beer, eds., Academic Press.

     


PBS Video of Pepperberg's and Alex's 3 appearances on Scientific American Frontiers