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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
fast-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
A slow start but once Alex comes on the scene this becomes very interesting. Challenges our sense of what animals can think.
Great read! Good combination of the science behind animal language plus the close friendship of Alex and Pepperberg. Plus some quotes from Alex made me LOL.
It's a shame Alex didn't dictate his memoirs before his untimely death; I think he could have come up with a punchier book than the one written by the author.
Alex & Me is fine in the sense that it moves along quickly and seems to cover their history together but it was a bit on the sterile side and Dr. Pepperberg appears to have no ability to make what should be a funny story funny. At best her anecdotes are cute but they could have been much more.
I don't recall whether I've seen them on television but I suspect that's the better way to appreciate their partnership.
Alex & Me is fine in the sense that it moves along quickly and seems to cover their history together but it was a bit on the sterile side and Dr. Pepperberg appears to have no ability to make what should be a funny story funny. At best her anecdotes are cute but they could have been much more.
I don't recall whether I've seen them on television but I suspect that's the better way to appreciate their partnership.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
An interesting memoir about the trials and tribulations of working at the forefront of animal cognition science. The things that Alex was able to do were completely remarkable and it is too sad that he passed away so early before we can know the full the possibilities of what he was thinking. The book itself was a great insight into the academic world and how so many people making amazing discoveries face hardships both finanicially and personally to achieve thier success.
This story is groundbreaking in the science world but for animal lovers it just reaffirms what we already know. Alex and Irene's bond is fascinating, humorous, and inspiring. While many people are sure to be familiar with Alex's amazing talents, this book shares darling stories such as Alex bossing around new lab hands, making up a word for an apple - "bananerry" (and refusing to believe it is called an apple), and telling his handler "I love you, be good" every night.
Pepperberg gets off slow in the first chapter, I suggest skipping it all together. Once Alex comes into the story, you won't be able to put it down. Just make sure you have some tissues close once you get near the end.
Pepperberg gets off slow in the first chapter, I suggest skipping it all together. Once Alex comes into the story, you won't be able to put it down. Just make sure you have some tissues close once you get near the end.
This was a quick little book, that discussed Alex the Parrot and how he learned to talk. This was covered from a mostly scientific point of view mostly, and never really ventured into the emotional impact that he had on his researcher, Irene Pepperberg.
In this book Irene over and over again does state that Alex was important to her, but I never felt that she showed this. Even in the first chapter, describing how his death affected her seemed more along the lines of a newspaper article instead of an in depth look at Alex and Irene's relationship.
This is a good introductory book when dealing with the science and training that Irene did, but lacks an emotional depth that seemed to be possible.
I haven't read Marley and Me but have read Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, and felt that was a better book about human/animal relationships.
In this book Irene over and over again does state that Alex was important to her, but I never felt that she showed this. Even in the first chapter, describing how his death affected her seemed more along the lines of a newspaper article instead of an in depth look at Alex and Irene's relationship.
This is a good introductory book when dealing with the science and training that Irene did, but lacks an emotional depth that seemed to be possible.
I haven't read Marley and Me but have read Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, and felt that was a better book about human/animal relationships.
What an excellent retelling of the research done by the author with Alex, the Grey Parrot! It is amazing how little we knew about language and animals prior to the 1980s and how much we've learned since. The first two chapters are a bit slow, but it is worth sticking around for Alex, who was quite a bird, and the work they accomplished. I felt a little sad at the end. It was one of those books that touches you.
Picked this book up because of my interest in language acquisition and because we discussed in my neuropsych class the research on animal language, and this was used as an example.
Other than a STUNNING misunderstanding of behaviorist theory and the uses of operant conditioning, as well as the limitations of teaching by modeling (some animals just don't respond to modeling, so it's not an option), this was a pretty good book. Didn't go into as much detail as I wanted, and didn't give me much on Alex's brain and how he could do what he could without a developed frontal lobe and pre-frontal cortex, but it was a quick read. There was some sentimentalism (seriously, you think the bird said he was sorry because he felt remorse? Even humans don't do that as often as we'd like to think. How would he know the abstract emotional/cognitive meaning behind "sorry?" Saying sorry had a FUNCTION and he used it effectively.) but mixed in with the scientific achievements I found interesting -- even if I did interpret them from my own psychology/behaviorist mindset as opposed to the ones she gave.
And -- thank goodness -- there was MUCH less focus on her personal life and travails, unlike the Dewey book, in which the story was 80% about the author, 20% charming stories about Dewey.
Other than a STUNNING misunderstanding of behaviorist theory and the uses of operant conditioning, as well as the limitations of teaching by modeling (some animals just don't respond to modeling, so it's not an option), this was a pretty good book. Didn't go into as much detail as I wanted, and didn't give me much on Alex's brain and how he could do what he could without a developed frontal lobe and pre-frontal cortex, but it was a quick read. There was some sentimentalism (seriously, you think the bird said he was sorry because he felt remorse? Even humans don't do that as often as we'd like to think. How would he know the abstract emotional/cognitive meaning behind "sorry?" Saying sorry had a FUNCTION and he used it effectively.) but mixed in with the scientific achievements I found interesting -- even if I did interpret them from my own psychology/behaviorist mindset as opposed to the ones she gave.
And -- thank goodness -- there was MUCH less focus on her personal life and travails, unlike the Dewey book, in which the story was 80% about the author, 20% charming stories about Dewey.