<P> Alex ( 1976 -- 6 September 2007 ) was an African grey parrot and the subject of a thirty - year ( 1977 -- 2007 ) experiment by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg , initially at the University of Arizona and later at Harvard University and Brandeis University . When Alex was about one year old , Pepperberg bought him at a pet shop . The name Alex was a backronym for avian language experiment , or avian learning experiment . </P>
<P> Alex ( 1976 -- 6 September 2007 ) was an African grey parrot and the subject of a thirty - year ( 1977 -- 2007 ) experiment by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg , initially at the University of Arizona and later at Harvard University and Brandeis University . When Alex was about one year old , Pepperberg bought him at a pet shop . The name Alex was a backronym for avian language experiment , or avian learning experiment . </P>
which researcher trained an african grey parrot to answer spoken questions with spoken words
which researcher trained an african grey parrot to answer spoken questions with spoken words
Irene Pepperberg
Irene Pepperberg