# Linguistic/Psychic Pets **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959 "2004-01-31T23:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gregongie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@gregongie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregongie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/1 "2004-01-31T23:29:24Z")
I came across [this](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm) article on the BBC’s website which I found dubious in nature. > [@](#): > > The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. > > The bird, a captive African grey called N’kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour. > > He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human child would do. > > N’kisi’s remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy, feature in the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine. Coincidentially, the N’kisi website is hosted by Mr. Rupert Sheldrake, whose book Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home is rather controversial itself. He also apparently has done research on the “sense of being stared at”, i.e. when you “know” someone is looking at you, but you can’t see them. So here are my questions: 1. Does N’kisi have any special linguistic or psychic abilities? 2. Do dogs know when their owners are coming home? 3. Is there a sense of being stared at? 4. Is Sheldrake a quack? Instinctively, I feel that the answer to #4 is yes, but I would like to see what the Teeming Millions have to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/2 "2004-01-31T23:33:28Z")
1. Does N’kisi have any special linguistic or psychic abilities? Probably not, and no. 2. Do dogs know when their owners are coming home? No, not until they can sense them conventiponally (hear the car, or voice, etc.) 3. Is there a sense of being stared at? No. 4. Is Sheldrake a quack? Yes ---
**Author:** ![gregongie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@gregongie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregongie)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/3 "2004-01-31T23:53:15Z")
Also, [here](http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1511/8_21/63583788/p1/article.jhtml) is an article Discover magazine published a few years back about Sheldrake. Some additional questions: I had always thought Discover was rather trustworthy as a pop-science magazine. Am I wrong? How does the true scientic community view the publication? ---
**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/4 "2004-02-01T01:06:41Z")
Parrots are damned smart, a lot smarter than we thought for a long time. You might want to compare this bird to another African grey named Alex, who has been involved in intelligence studies for many years. And I’ve never seen a single example of animal behaviour that _had_ to be explained by telepathy. If an animal is doing something or if an animal knows something, there always seems to be a good reason for it. You don’t have to make up a reason. ---
**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/5 "2004-02-01T01:09:22Z")
Oh yeah-- I saw that clip about Pam and Jaytee once. It could be a hoax, but at the same time you can’t say ‘yes, telepathy exists’ with just _one_ trial. I’d like to see them carry out that experiment a number of times, and see how often the dog ‘cues in’ to the owner’s return home even if it’s at an unusual time of day. ---
**Author:** ![gregongie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@gregongie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregongie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/6 "2004-02-01T01:36:35Z")
Right, I found it sort of odd that telepathy was the first conclusion to jump to. An addtional question-- Why is it that parrots can mimic human speech like they do? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/7 "2004-02-01T02:25:02Z")
I have to support **Q.E.D.** here. The report of the parrot seems very much like that of Koko, the gorillla of not-long-ago fame (sorry, I couldn’t find a really good link on short notice). Koko was claimed to have near-human speech abilities, especially by/with her trainer. However, some more critical analysts have suggested that there are more mundane explanations, including the [Clever Hans effect](http://www.skepdic.com/cleverhans.html), [wishful thinking,](http://www.skepdic.com/wishfulthinking.html) and a few other logical fallacies at work. It was claimed (drawing entirely from my memory here, forgive me) that Koko would respond to the trainer in a logical, human way, like making english rhymes. But if she responded any other way, the trainer said she was “just kidding” or deliberately wanted to give the wrong answer. In short, no matter what was “said,” Koko’s actions were interpreted as being favorable to the trainer’s claims. While I don’t know for sure if a parrot can possess human-like intelligence, I think further, critical investigation is called for before that claim is considered beyond reproach. The claim may reveal more about how humans (and journalists) can be self-deceived than how birds can communicate. Parrot psychic abilities are another story, and one step beyond the believable. Give me a break. ---
**Author:** ![gregongie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@gregongie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregongie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/8 "2004-02-01T04:56:50Z")
Here’s a video of PBS’s “Scientific American Frontiers” starring Alex the parrot: [(In the middle of the page)](http://www.pbs.org/saf/1201/video/watchonline.htm) I’m familiar with Clever Hans, and the doubtful [KoKo](http://www.stanthecaddy.com/koko-the-monkey.html), but I was still impressed with Alex’s ability to respond with complex instructions in the above video. I sort of want a parrot now… ---
**Author:** ![Zigarre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/bbce88/32.png) [@Zigarre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zigarre)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/9 "2004-02-01T05:44:28Z")
I think QED is correct on all 4. I did see a program once that addressed one of the questions you asked. 2)” Do dogs know when their owners are coming home?” The program reached the conclusion that dogs do know when their owners are coming home, not because of ESP or other magic power, but because their sense of hearing is so great, they hear sound(s) that they associate with their owner, well before any human can. 1. Is Sheldrake a quack? My dog thinks so. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/10 "2004-02-01T05:56:42Z")
I have friends that keep birds. My friends are very knowledgeble about their “children.” They tell me a parrot or macaw has the intelligence of a four year old child. They can easily develop a vocabulary of 1000 words. They do seem to understand humor, also about on the level of a 4 year old. One night I was visiting, and we were sitting in their kitchen chatting. The birds (all 7 of them) have their own room just off the kitchen. The birds had been put to bed, cages latched and the door pulledto, but not latched. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. The african grey was worrying the crack in the door. I told my friends, and they said to ignore him. After a while the door was open enough for the little guy to get out, but, instead, a _sock_wiggled in the doorway. I watched, facinated. Soon, he ran from the doorway to a stool a few feet away. (carrying the sock). he stayed there a bit, being as quiet as a church mouse and hiding behind the stool leg. I guess he thought it safe to come closer, so he scurried to hide behind the dog. At that point his “dad” said, in a conversational voice, “I’m sure no one is out of bed, bad birds get a squirt!” The little bird ran straight for his room, wings spread yelling "Squirt! Squirt! I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard in my adult life. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-psychic-pets/226959/11 "2004-02-01T16:21:59Z")
> [@gregongie](#): > > Here’s a video of PBS’s “Scientific American Frontiers” starring Alex the parrot: [(In the middle of the page)](http://www.pbs.org/saf/1201/video/watchonline.htm) > > I’m familiar with Clever Hans, and the doubtful [KoKo](http://www.stanthecaddy.com/koko-the-monkey.html), but I was still impressed with Alex’s ability to respond with complex instructions in the above video. I’m not. Ever heard of a “magician’s force?” That’s where the randomly-chosen audience member picks something that makes the performer look amazing, but in reality, that was the only choice available. That’s why many magic tricks aren’t done twice in a row – the explanation becomes too obvious. If you are so impressed with that damn bird, I’ve got a whole pile of psychic, paranormal tricks to show you. Just let me work for a few minutes with this confederate, here, and we’ll be ready in no time. Lessee, I am blindfolded, and if my confederate says “what color” twice, I will respond, “red,” and if he says it thrice, you say “green.” “What is this common object in my left hand?” means he has a key, “…right hand…” means a watch, etc. Now, I’m not saying that the parrot and parrot-head trainer are using these techniques, and even if they are, it may be unconscious (Clever Hans), but a video with Alan Alda cannot be considered scientific evidence of much of anything; it’s merely light entertainment, like card tricks in a bar. We also are not shown an entire session with the bird. Did the bird ever respond wrongly? If so, how often? You make a video of 10 responses, 9 of them wrong, then air the one that was right, of course. Who wants to see the boring old mistakes? Also note that the parrot responded NOT AT ALL to most questions. But those aren’t counted as failures; the question is asked again and again. That may be the way to train, but is it a fair test? To really find out if birds can distinguish colors, sizes, objects and vocallize that info (and I’m not saying they can’t) you need some much better-controlled tests, especially without the familiar trainer in the room.