aubirey

Hi Irene, this is your student Sam! So glad the AMA is going well.

As you know, the other day a TIL post about your work became a huge hit on the site and was upvoted to the front page. It claimed that Alex became the first ever animal to ask an 'existential' question, by asking what color he was. When you and I chatted yesterday you clarified for me exactly how Alex asked this and the situation which prompted the question. Would you please explain to Reddit the real story, and the reality of these claims of an 'existentialist question'?

Haha, I'm actually at Cornell now, with NO plans to tell my current PhD advisor my reddit username. But I still consider myself a student of Irene, as without her mentorship (and rec letters) I wouldn't be where I am today in the field of avian learning.

Even more evidence of sockpuppets astroturfing: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/85svjd/i_am_the_ceo_of_brainfm_and_were_making_music/dw0bzwp/

To my knowledge, only a handful of species have passed 'the mirror test', and only one species of bird: the European Magpie. Irene has published on African Grey parrot perception of mirrors in the past (http://www.2ndchance.info/tameparrot-Pepperberg1995.pdf) but did not find them to exhibit any self-exploratory behavior. Like very young human children, they don't seem to understand that the parrot in the mirror is themselves, although the mark test was not directly administered.