Pepperberg Irene M
Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454, USA.
Anim Cogn. 2006 Oct;9(4):377-91. doi: 10.1007/s10071-006-0034-7. Epub 2006 Aug 15.
The extent to which humans and nonhumans share numerical competency is a matter of debate. Some researchers argue that nonhumans, lacking human language, possess only a simple understanding of small quantities, generally less than four. Animals that have, however, received some training in human communication systems might demonstrate abilities intermediate between those of untrained nonhumans and humans. Here I review data for a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) that has been shown to quantify sets of up to and including six items (including heterogeneous subsets) using vocal English labels, to comprehend these labels fully, and to have a zero-like concept. Recent research demonstrates that he can also sum small quantities. His success shows that he understands number symbols as abstract representations of real-world collections, and that his sense of number compares favorably to that of chimpanzees and young human children.
人类和非人类在数字能力方面的共享程度是一个有争议的问题。一些研究人员认为，非人类由于缺乏人类语言，对小数量只有简单的理解，通常少于四个。然而，那些在人类交流系统中接受过一些训练的动物可能会表现出介于未受过训练的非人类和人类之间的能力。在这里，我回顾了一只非洲灰鹦鹉（Psittacus erithacus）的数据，这只鹦鹉已被证明能够使用英语口语标签对多达六个项目（包括异类子集）进行量化，能够完全理解这些标签，并具有类似零的概念。最近的研究表明，它还能对小数量进行加法运算。它的成功表明，它将数字符号理解为现实世界集合的抽象表示，并且它的数字感与黑猩猩和幼儿相比毫不逊色。
