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				The Dog Nose Knows Scientists look to real canines to develop an electronic land mine sniffer.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: As the women's basketball squad scrimmages at Auburn University in Alabama no one seems to pay much attention to a lone figure placing a harmless looking tube under one of the seats. But one person watching with keen interest is Ed Hawkinson. An ex-Secret Service agent he helped protect the president using dogs trained to sniff out explosives. Today he's watching the performance of a dog named Booger. HAWKINSON: This dog actually sniffs about four times a second which is pretty remarkable. And he inhales odor until he goes right straight to the source puts his nose on it and then sits. He's just pretty steady sniffing right now. ALDA: Ed's skill is in training dogs to locate specific scents they've learned to associate with a reward. HAWKINSON: Now, see the change in the behavior? Now, what he did is tell her it's somewhere in that area. Now he's going to raise his head up in a minute and sit down. Good boy. HAWKINSON: There's nothing more beautiful than watch a dog do this and go right to the source and then sit. ALDA: Booger's been rewarded this time for finding a harmless chemical but he's also been trained to sniff out far more dangerous things. It's a polymer gun. It's a real gun, it has real bullets in it-- none in the chamber-- and what we do is just teach the dog to find the bouquet of odors that are actually coming off this gun. ALDA: Ed Hawkinson's new job is to breed and train dogs to help prevent tragedies like the shootings at Columbine High. Good boy! Good boy! HAWKINSON: We can't take care of the psychological problem that's causing all this but maybe we can prevent people from, um, bringing guns and bombs to school because of the dogs that we're going to have. TRAINER: Come on, puppies! ALDA: These Labrador puppies are among Ed's first recruits. He favors Labs in part because they're so appealing. They're, uh, certainly lovable animals and they're not a threat to anybody. But they absolutely smell great as far as olfactory capabilities. They're a very calm dog and we just love them because of their temperament. You take these in schools and you have no problem communicating with the children and the administrators and all that. There's not a threat. Of course, this little girl is the worst one. Yeah, you're the star of the show, huh. ALDA: Ed's puppies have months of training ahead of them before they become as expert as Sadie a black Lab who specializes in detecting the explosive TNT. This contains 45 grams of flaked TNT. This is what Sadie is trained to smell and then sit. ALDA: Each of the blocks in the circle auhas a jar in it. The jars all contain a chemical but only in four is the chemical TNT. Watching her performance are two visitors to Auburn from Tufts University in Massachusetts John Kauer and Joel White. John and Joel have taken on the daunting task of trying to emulate Sadie's skills with a device that looks like a Rube Goldberg variation kon a vacuum cleaner. Their goal is to use it to locate some of the deadliest objects in the world: unexploded land mines. To show how hard the task is now John has buried a land mine without its explosive just below the surface in his backyard. My job is to find it, armed only with this wooden stick. The idea is to slide it in obliquely so that you don't hit the fuse. You don't want to go down on it because that's where the fuse is. You know, when I was in the army 40 years ago they taught me how to do that with a bayonet to crawl on the ground and probe for it. That was one of many things they taught me in the army that I didn't really want to know. ALDA: I only have to search around in one small spot of freshly turned earth. Is this enough of an angle, do you think? KAUER: I think that's the appropriate angle. ALDA: It's frustrating and scary. KAUER: So you can see from doing this how long it would take to clear a square meter. Yeah, I mean.. I mean, obviously somebody experienced at it would go a lot faster than I'm going but you do have to make many... Well, I'm not sure they would go a lot faster. ALDA: After several long minutes of blindly probing... Okay, there it is. Got something? Yeah, that's clearly it. I'll tell you, I think I would have already blown myself up. ALDA: The only way to confirm it's the mine is to gently-- very gently-- clear away the dirt with my fingers. There it is. Oh, my God, >T>What a horrible sight. That little bit of green plastic in there. What a disgusting sight that is. I mean, that's this... That's the essence of the problem right there. ALDA: And the problem is immense. It's estimated that there are between 50 and 100 million land mines buried in places as far apart as Bosnia Afghanistan and Cambodia. Like the mine I searched for, most of them are plastic and so they're invisible to metal detectors. The only way to find them, apart from probing is to use dogs. How effective are dogs compared to probing? Well, the dogs are not perfect. I mean, they don't find every mine that's out there. And the problem probably stems from the fact that the concentrations of the material you're trying to detect are extremely low. These have very little odor associated with them. You and I won't smell anything and, uh, even if we opened them you wouldn't smell the material. Right. ALDA: So for several years now working mostly in John Kauer's garage the two biologists have been building an artificial nose that they hope will one day be even better than a dog's. Now, if we do this right, it won't start smoking when I get all these hooked up. John and I are neurophysiologists. We're interested in how the brain works. And traditionally neurophysiologists tend to be people who like to tinker with things. You build electronic circuits, you program computers you make your own hardware, you build your amplifier. And so it was kind of a natural that when the idea of building an artificial nose came up that that was something that would be attractive to us. This go over my neck? ALDA: The artificial dog nose consists of a battery pack, a computer and the device that actually takes the sniffs. You're the first person not in the lab who has worn this thing. I hope it doesn't blow up. If blue smoke starts coming out of it, we'll run. ALDA: The tube first takes a sniff at an empty jar. MECHANICAL VOICE: Blank. That wasn't me. That was the machine's. It has my voice. Blank. It sounds very similar. ALDA: The next jar contains DNT, a nonexplosive cousin of TNT. Traces of DNT are often present in land mines. MECHANICAL VOICE: Land mine. Wow, it just tells you in plain words: "Land mine." WHITE: Yeah, it doesn't mince words at all, does it? Okay, here we go to the next one. ALDA: The last of the test jars contains methanol or wood alcohol. And this'll say, "Double malt scotch." KAUER: It could-- we've tested it on beer. MECHANICAL VOICE: Methanol. Wow! Pretty smart. At least it can discriminate between Sam Adams and Corona. We know that. We've done that experiment. ALDA: Here's what's been happening each time the machine took a sniff: a valve at the business end of the tube opens drawing air into the detection chamber lined on one side with tiny light-emitting diodes and on the other side with sensors made of different chemicals. The molecules in the odor react with these sensors slightly changing the color or brightness of some while leaving others unaffected. The computer looks at the total pattern of response to each odor creating a characteristic signature for each. The device is based on how the Tufts researchers think real dog noses work and like a real dog's nose, the machine can be trained. This is essential if you're looking for different mines buried in different places for different lengths of time. ALDA: This mine buried in Bosnia would smell different from the same mine buried in Vietnam. One might imagine that to be true. There are no data that I know of that have shown that explicitly but the experience from using animals like dogs is that you have to train them at the local environments. Is the idea of training the dog or the device on the site so that any chemical changes that have taken place since the mine was placed there that are peculiar to that site would be recognizable? Exactly right. MECHANICAL VOICE: Blank. ALDA: With the machine trained to recognize DNT as a land mine it's time to put it through its paces. There you go. MECHANICAL VOICE: Blank. Except that so far it thinks everything is blank. ALDA: And this jar, I happen to know, contains DNT. MECHANICAL VOICE: Blank. It's getting adamant about it, too. Did you noticed the tone changing? ALDA: Sadie, the black Labrador, performed this test flawlessly and in a few seconds at Auburn. But just as John and Joel are starting to sweat a little... MECHANICAL VOICE: Land mine. Land mine here! Now, I don't care whether it's right or wrong. I would definitely take it seriously if it said "land mine" especially the way it screams it out like that. ALDA: John has kept notes on our performance as we went around the ring. So it's doing pretty well. So out of six that we did so far it's missed one. It's missed one. Yeah. And it said it was blank and it was really a land mine. That's the kind of error you don't want. But... but, uh, but five out of six isn't bad. You can get a new machine and probably another actor in here pretty quickly. ALDA: Or another dog. Trained animals like Odo, a Belgian malinois continue to be the unsurpassed experts at the task John White has set himself which is why he's come to Auburn's Canine Olfactory Detection Laboratory to see Odo in action in a test chamber. WOMAN: Odo stays in the chamber. a session like this about an hour every day and gets approximately 45 to 50 trials per session. He usually starts out by hearing a beeping tone and that tells him to stick his nose in the nose cone and the odor is dispensed. ALDA: Odo responds by pushing a lever and he's rewarded with some kibble if his response is correct. If he sniffs only clean air, he pushes the left lever. If he smells an odor, he presses the lever on the right. The strength of the odor can be reduced until Odo can no longer tell the difference between smell and no smell. This gives the researchers his threshold for detecting that odor which can be one or two parts per billion. Odo always seems shocked when he's wrong. We think that we're about ten times worse than the dog's sensitivity right now. And part of the reason that we're visiting is that we've made some improvements in the device that we hope will get us closer to what this animal is doing. But as I watch this-- in fact, I hadn't seen this as carefully as we're looking at it now before-- it's clear that there are a whole bunch of other things that the dog is doing that our device is not doing. You can watch the dog anticipate and get ready for the next trial. (chuckles): Well, our thing just sits there and although that sounds trivial I'm sure this is part of the process that allows the dog to do it so well because he's focusing his attention at a particular period of time. Now, part of the issue, of course in designing a better device is determining which of those things you'd like to replicate. And I think the lying down and stopping work is one of the things we don't want to replicate. (chuckling) ALDA: Joel and John have brought their artificial nose to Auburn to run it head to head with dogs like Odo in a similar testing chamber. The machine sniffs precisely measured doses of its test chemicals which include the land mine component dinitrotoluene, DNT. So this DNT concentration is somewhere between ten and 20 parts per billion. We would like to be down at about one part per billion. ALDA: Today, the artificial nose again gets off to a rocky start. MECHANICAL VOICE: Blank. It missed that one. MECHANICAL VOICE: Blank. KAUER: Missed that one, too. It's missing DNT. ALDA: But after Joel does some tweaking the nose settles in for a run almost as impressive as Odo's. MECHANICAL VOICE: Dinitrotoluene. (chuckles) This is what keeps you going in science, right? This is what keeps the juices flowing. It's great fun. What's the next one? ALDA: John and Joel's enthusiasm mayet produce an artificial nose to rival or even better a dog's and help save thousands of lives from the millions of land mines still out there waiting to explode. Dogs, meanwhile, remain the unexcelled sniffing champions and not just because of their noses. According to John Kauer, they live in a smellier world. KAUER: There's a good reason why the animal's noses are down on the ground is that odors tend to be heavy-- they're heavier than air-- so they don't rise, they sink and there's a very rich odor environment down near the ground. I'm going to check out what you said. First I'm going to do a little sniffing up here at around six feet. This is the control. (sniffing) Okay. Now I'm going to check it out a little lower. (sniffing) Oh, my God, yeah. ALDA: It's true, down here the world is a far smellier place. And every few inches you get a different aroma.

				Virtual Dog Training Alan tests his dog training skills, in the real world and in cyberspace.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: ALDA: Once upon a time, athere was a dog named Silas. (Silas yips) Hello, Silas. ALDA: Silas lived in a so-called magic room at MIT's famous Media Lab. Where's he going? Hey, (whistles) come here. ALDA: Although only a virtual dog, he'd been trained to respond to the gestures of the people who entered his life. Sit, sit. (barks) Oh, wow, look at that. He's like a real dog that sometimes he'll respond to your gestures and sometimes he won't. Will he beg? Yeah. Put both your hands over your head. Whoa! Now, sometimes Silas will do what he wants. So right now I think he's heading off to get a ball because he figures... Here he is, here he is. Give me the ball, give me the ball. Okay, now I'll throw the ball for him. ALDA: Several years, and several thousands of lines of computer code later, Silas left his magic room and grew up to become Duncan a sheep dog with an entire Scottish estate to roam around and a flock of virtual and rather flighty sheep to look after. (sheep bleating) Away. ALDA: Like Silas, Duncan is the creation of a Media Lab team headed by Bruce Blumberg. (Silas barks) So "away" tells the dog what? "Away" tells him to circle around the sheep keeping the sheep in his left eye. In his left eye? So he's going to be circling around the sheep which is an instinctive behavior for herding animals-- for herding dogs. "Bye" tells him to circle keeping them in his right eye so that would be clockwise around. Bye... bye? "Bye"-- these are all Scottish terms. Oh, I see. I don't know why the Scots came up with them but we thought we'd have a little tradition here. Down. ALDA: And just like their traditional counterparts all the creatures on the screen have minds of their own... Away. With Duncan's being a good deal smarter than the sheeps'. When I tell him "away," for example PC9he understands that command but then it's up to his own intelligence in order to figure out how far away from the sheep to go how to avoid the obstacles that he sees. Very much as if you had a puppy and the puppy comes with some basic abilities and then you're training it to use this action to get particular... Now, he's got them in kind of a lump over there. Yeah, that's good. Maybe I shouldn't do anything. He's doing a great job of herding if I don't do anything. Would you like to try it? Yeah, sure. All right, what you need to do is say one of those words and then we'll click on it. Away. Bye. ALDA: This is the easy part-- getting virtual Duncan to recognize my voice. Now things get trickier. ALDA: Can I just decide where I want to herd them to-- it doesn't matter? Yeah, there's no sort of winning and losing in this. ALDA: Away. ALDA: Things start off promisingly. (sheep bleating) Steady. (Duncan barks) I've lost a sheep here. ALDA: But then Duncan and I seem to go our different ways. Bye. Pay attention. (chuckles) Bye! (Duncan barks) No... He's just separated the whole... herd of sheep. Someone separated the whole herd of sheep. (laughs) Well, if you don't mind, I'll blame him. Now, this really calls to mind an interesting question: let's say I got really good at this. Yeah... (chuckles) Why? Yeah, why? Why have you gone to all this trouble? Well, the, uh... the fundamental thing that I'm interested in is sort of the nature of intelligence. What is it that sort of is going on in our brains that allows us to have the everyday kind of intelligence that gets us through our day? And that for me, dogs are a perfect model of that because dogs really have dinky little brains-- their brains are the size of lemons if they're a big dog-- and yet they have the kind of common sense that probably underlies 90% of our behavior. ALDA: Duncan's common sense along with this ball on a stick called an Ally-Oop has allowed Bruce to train him. To find out how, we took a break from virtual dogs-- Duncan politely waving good-bye-- to visit a real one. MAN: See what he's doing? ALDA: Yeah. ALDA: This is Tug, who lives in Phoenix with his owner, Gary Wilkes. Gary uses a clicker to tell Tug when he's done something good-- in this case touch the Ally-Oop with his nose-- then he gives him a treat. What he was doing was paying attention to the click. The things which draw the clicks he will repeat. In the meantime, if he's not sure what caused the click he's free to try other things. The same way that if a door doesn't open when you try the doorknob you might do something else like pull out a key. He's sure it has something to do with paws. ALDA: By not clicking for awhile Gary can get Tug to experiment even more. He knows it has something to do with the target and he knows it has something to do with touching it but he's not sure what. And you're hearing the vocalizations coming through? (barks) ALDA: But from Tug's apparent frustration comes inspiration. Now, he just came back and touched it with his nose and paw. He's trying to cover all the bases to make sure that... Yeah, now he's touching the ball with his paw. (barks) And barking and sitting. He's throwing all kinds of stuff in there. Yeah. He's giving us more than our money's worth. Exactly. Well, come over here Tug. Do something with this thing. ALDA: I've come to Phoenix because Bruce Blumberg has modeled how he trains Duncan on how Gary trains Tug. The Ally-Oop provides Tug with a target. The idea here is to see if I can get Tug to go back and forth between me and the target even as I move further and further away. Tug does fine... Ow! apart from including my fingers with the treat. WILKES: There we go. See how the click stops the behavior? It lets him know exactly what he's supposed to do. Twice, now, you've clicked with him coming toward me rather than actually touching the ball. And so what you're teaching him to do is to come to me but return back to you. And now let me remove the target and you'll see that the behavior still exists. ALDA: Tug takes his usual finger or two, then dutifully trots off. So far I've used no words to get Tug to perform just the click and the treat. He's slowing down. He looks like he's thirsty. ALDA: But now it's time for some commands. So I'm going to say "right" and then point... click... treat. If I do that about 20 to 50 times he will automatically start to integrate that into it. Right. Click. (clicking): Okay. Now, watch this. Left. (clicks) Pretty quick. Okay, left. ALDA: After associating word and action Tug now can recognize the words as commands. WILKES: Don't be afraid to do two in a row. Make him go to the right once. Give him the click. Now, on the way back just ask him to do another one. Left. This time don't even click just ask him to go right. Right. See what's happening? We're dropping out the tools. You don' t need to click and treat every time. After a while, you'll have the dog who just does the behavior and a sporadic occasional pat on the head is all you need. ALDA: Now the question is can I use what I've learned from Tug to train Duncan. Of course, Duncan doesn't eat kibble. ALDA: Now, when I do the click that means he automatically gets a treat. BLUMBERG: That's right. It's a virtual thing. So I don't have to wait till he comes back to me to give him a treat. No. I want to see if I can get him to do what I got Tug to do to go back and forth between two. Now, that's cute, but forget it. Okay, you can click. (clicks) ALDA: At first I use the clicker simply to reward Duncan for going to an Ally-Oop. (clicks) Then, just as I did with Tug I add a command. Left. Click now. ALDA: To begin with, I give the command when he's already doing what I want. Right. (clicks) Left. (Alda clicks, then Duncan barks) ALDA: Now it's time to see if he'll obey the command. Right. (clicks) So it looks like he's got that, huh? Well, you never can be too sure. Shall I try the same one again? Try "left," actually. Left. ALDA: But now Duncan, borrowing a page from Tug's book tries running through his repertoire instead. (Alda chuckles as Duncan barks) Now I understand why dogs do this. He's just trying out, seeing what I like-- trying out a lot of different things. Say "left" again. Left. (Duncan barks) He thinks the blue one's left. Oh, he does? Say "left" again, he'll go over. Left. He does. You've actually trained him to go to the blue Ally-Oop. Right. Oh, he goes there no matter what I say. ALDA: So far, Duncan is reminding me only too vividly of dogs I have owned. But now I'm going to see if I can teach him something new. Jump. ALDA: Again, I first wait till he jumps then I say the word. Jump. (clicks) ALDA: But now comes the moment of truth. Jump. ALDA: Will Duncan treat the word as a command? Cool! He did it, he got it. Do it again, do it again. Jump. (Duncan barks as Alda clicks) Awesome! Nice, huh? You know, you are the... this is a pretty fresh demo meaning, you are the first person outside of the group that's actually trained this dog. Oh, that must make you feel great that an amateur can do it, that's great. Well, look, I know it's pretty fast. Now, I was getting ready to tell you that Tug learns faster. No, he learns much faster than a real dog at the moment. But it's basically the same mechanism that's going on in Tug's brain. At least that's what we're trying to model. He won't stop jumping now, look. Jump. Okay, bud, let's see what you're going to come up with now. ALDA: Back in Phoenix, Tug neither knows nor cares that Bruce Blumberg is modeling his brain. But his owner is impressed. The perspective they have there at the Media Lab is one of gradually increasing the complexity and what they've accomplished so far is pretty remarkable. And as he continues to push in that direction of adding sort of extra bells and whistles to their dogs I find that they come closer and closer to what I know real dogs to be like. Good boy... ALDA: Bruce Blumberg hasn't relied solely on Tug for his insights into what real dogs are like. He also has own Silky Terrier Sydney for inspiration. But while Sydney gets plenty of attention before Bruce leaves for the office like a lot of dogs he then spends much of the day waiting for him to return. (barks) So Bruce has a plan. Touch, Sydney. ALDA: And this being Bruce it inevitably involves an Ally-Oop, a clicker and a computer. Yes, both Bruce and Sydney are on the Net. He hears your voice? Over the microphone. This is going over the Internet. Sydney, touch. Good boy. Right there I clicked and now I can give him food. ALDA: The food dispenser is also controlled over the Internet. BLUMBERG: Sydney, touch. ALDA: Sydney may be enjoying the game but he still has a mind of his own. Down. Down. All right, Sydney, sit. There used to be a vaudeville act like that. Well, now he's down. Now he's down. Um, Sydney, touch. Good boy. What I'm really interested in is trying to see if we can use technology to enhance the lives of these animals and enhance a relationship with these animals. So, um, Sydney spends most of the day alone with Katey, our collie and he's sleeping, he's bored, he's chewing on stuff. And I'm at my office and I'd love to be able to see him. Bored and chewing on stuff. Yeah, bored, chewing on stuff and it's a problem, you know? The office furniture. Pencils are all gone. You miss Sydney. Right. So I was thinking, could we come up with an interface that would be fun for me and fun for him? And also maybe that we could help do some training over the Internet when I wasn't there. How many sessions have you had with Sydney now? Three. Three, that's all? Yeah, this is literally the third time. Why don't we get him to do something he's never done? Boy, you are brave. Well, let's see. Let's see what you can do. ALDA: Rising to the challenge Bruce has his graduate student, Ben Resner who's at Sydney's end of the Internet link put a toy panda in his room. When Bruce squeezes a twin of the panda at his computer Sydney's panda also cries. (panda cries) When Sydney noses the panda in curiosity... ALDA: There he goes. ALDA: he gets a click and a treat. It seems to me, if you can get him to consistently touch that eventually he'll take a bite or move it and then you can start to reward that and you can get him to move it across the room. That's right, that's right. ALDA: So let's see. There we go. Look, he gave it a real shove. Exactly. (panda crying) He's really moving it now. He's getting very aggressive. ALDA: So there we are, a world's first-- a terrier trained over the Internet to harass an annoying toy panda. Sydney. ALDA: We could have been half a world away or as Sydney decides to reveal, just next door. (laughing) Hi, Sydney. Sydney, very good job.

				Entertaining Parrots Parrots demand attention. But new technology may help alleviate bird boredom.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: MAN: What is it? PARROT: Key chain. Good boy. WOMAN: Good birdie. What a smart birdie. ALDA: We first met Alex ten years ago. He astonished us then. What is it? ALEX: Rock. Good boy, yeah, that's right. WOMAN: Alex, what toy? ALEX: Nail. Nail, that's right. You're a good birdie. Tell me what color. What color? ALEX: Yellow. Yellow, that's right. ALDA: He even knew what things are made of. MAN: What matter? ALEX: Wood. Yeah, that's right, very good. How many? Good boy, how many? ALDA: Irene Pepperberg was Alex's chief mentor. ALEX: Two. Good parrot, good boy! One, two. Okay, one more question on these. What color bigger? ALDA: Back then, Irene and Alex worked at the University of Arizona. You know, what color bigger? Yellow. Good boy! Good birdie! Hello, Alex. ALDA: But when we caught up with them recently Irene was a visiting professor at MIT's media lab. Um, can Alex do any new things since we saw him last? Yeah, we're going to do a couple of new things. I'm going to start with some old things just to warm him up a little bit. So these are two objects and we pulled them out of the tray and the neat thing about this is if he didn't really understand what we were all talking about he wouldn't be able to answer the several series of questions that I'm going to ask him. He would just have a single response to these things. So can you tell me what's here? What toy? ALEX (softly): Key. Can you say better? Say better. ALEX: Key. That's right. Can you tell me how many? How many? Come on, can you tell me how many? ALEX: Two. Very good. We keep going. Can you tell me what's different? What's different? ALEX: Color. Very good. Different color. And can you tell me what color's smaller? What color's smaller? What color's smaller? What color's smaller? ALEX: Green. Green, you could've said that a little better but that's a good boy. Can you tell me what number is gray? ALDA: Alex is now learning to recognize numbers up to six which is about as high as he can count. Come on, what number is gray? ALEX: Want nut. Well, tell me what number is gray and you'll get a nut. What number is gray? ALEX: Four. Very good-- good boy! ALEX: Want nut. Want nut, right. You get a big nut. You get a big nut. How did he get to this point? We do a modeling, we do a modeling training system which is really fun which I just so happen to have something we're working on here and we can demonstrate to him. So what we do is I act initially as the trainer and you act as the model for his behavior and his rival for my attention. Oh, okay. So I ask you about this and if you get it right, you get to play with it. Oh, okay. So you tell me, what's here? Spoon! Spoon! There you go! You got the spoon. That's what he does with it, yeah! Okay, then we exchange roles so he sees that you're not always... I'm not always the questioner and you're not always the responder but it's a... thing. And if I make a mistake you can take the spoon away and scold me. What is this? (Pepperberg squawks) No, wrong, wrong. Try again now, try again. Spoon. Very good. So he sees that not only any sound causes a transfer of the object but a specific sound. I find this very hard to believe that he's seeing all this and drawing these conclusions. And he does. Can you tell me, what toy? What toy? No, what toy? Come on, what toy? ALEX: Key. No, you're wrong. What toy? Spoon! Spoon! You're right, spoon! I love this spoon. You're really missing out on a great spoon here, pal. See, look at that. Oh, he's a great trainer. We should hire him. What toy? I'm serious about this. ALEX: Want nut. Sure you want a nut. Just tell us what the spoon is, you'll get it. ALEX: Sss. Very good! Here, take it. That's the beginning of spoon. If you do it a few more times can you get him to get that "n" sound in there? Yes. ALEX: Sss. Say the whole thing. What toy? ALEX: Sss... sss... poon. Spoon! All right! You're beginning to get it. It's sort of slow speech. ALDA: Alex has been working with Irene for some 23 years now and has recently been joined by two fellow African Grays, Griffin and Wart. (bird chirping) Despite the birds' striking abilities they look oddly out of place in a lab famous for being on the cutting edge of high tech. ALDA: We're surrounded by computers here in this... in this lab and all of a sudden you walk into this room and there are these birds. Very, very low tech, it seems. What's the connection here? PEPPERBERG: Well, they first asked me to come here because they were interested in intelligent learning systems. And the idea of using these birds as a model for intelligent learning systems-- seeing if they could adapt the way we train these birds to train their computers. But once I got here and I saw the wonderful things that they could build and do I started getting into what we call our "pet projects" which is using technological information and know-how to build different games different toys, different things to keep these birds, with their brilliance entertained throughout the day. (birds chirping) Hello. Hello. ALDA: To find out just why parrots need entertaining Irene and I took a trip to an extraordinary parrot sanctuary about an hour south of Boston. Here, nearly 200 birds of all shapes, sizes and colors inhabit a large barn and most of the house of Foster Parrots' founder Marc Johnson. JOHNSON: Welcome. Welcome to my madness. Where do all these birds come from? These are all, well... These are all from the rejects of the pet trade, I guess. That's the simplest way to say it. In the sense that people that bought a bird on impulse and found for one reason or another it was just too much for them to care for a little too dangerous, a little too noisy and, in fact, they're just showing their natural behaviors and it's just... it's difficult. Do you get bitten much? All the time. I bleed on a daily basis. How close should I get to these birds? Well, actually all the dangerous ones are probably put away. The one that you want to be careful of is Nate over there in that cage on the corner. Um, he's an interesting case in that he was someone's best friend for six years and suddenly became very aggressive and bit her ruthlessly. I mean, mouth, face, and she lost her confidence. And that's another reason that people give up their birds is once you no longer feel safe to hold your bird then it tends to stay in its cage a lot and then the guilt sets in and... and then they come here. ALDA: When they're at Foster Parrots many of the less dangerous birds roam around freely. (birds squawking) Most quickly form attachments with the human volunteers who look after them. I love you, too. ALDA: Marc's goal is to place as many of the birds as he can with new owners. But before you can a2dopt a bird, you have to convince Marc that you know what you're in for. ALDA: Who is this guy? This is Psycho. Wait a minute. How close should we get? Well, actually his name is more, uh, sort of... about his playfulness as opposed to his nuttiness. He is very playful. Um, and he seems to have really bonded with me very strongly. He came from a guy who basically felt guilty about not giving him enough attention. And he's a perfectly wonderful bird and... Other than eating your clothing. And he paid maybe $2,500 for the bird. Tell me how hard it is on the parrot to be kept in somebody's home. Well, what are the problems that the parrot has? You can start by thinking about taking a four-year-old child and putting it in a playpen-- ca four-year-old-- and putting it in a playpen with maybe one or two toys and leaving it eight hours a day. And you can imagine the anger and frustration that will accumulate ?jover the whole day. So when you come home this kid is not going to be, "Oh, I love you, I love you." It's going to be screaming, yelling getting out its frustrations and your response is often "I don't want to be near this maniacal creature screaming at me." Unlike dogs... Oh, I'm sorry. You know, I've had many directors try to keep me Qfrom gesturing so much. I think this is the Spielberg of parrots here, I think. You just want attention. What a look I'm getting. Drove it out of my head completely. Uh, unlike dogs who have had thousands of years of co-evolving with us. These animals are totally wild and we expect to be able to just cut them off from their instinctive behavior without paying a penalty. An7d deny them of all the '7rich life that they had. I mean, they were designed to fly and now we're confining them to a two-dimensional world and in lots of cases, even shrinking that down to the size of a small cage. It's got to be devastating on their psychological makeup. I can't... I... I don't understand, actually how some birds seem to manage it. Come on, look where it is. ALDA: Helping fellow parrots manage it in the human world is now one of the tasks facing Alex and his colleagues. Come here, Wart. ALDA: Irene Pepperberg's idea is to use technology to give their smart little brains something to chew on. We'll let Griffs do it. ALDA: Back at the Media Lab Irene's hooked up a controller to one of three nut dispensers. The parrot has to read the arrow and do what it says-- in this case, lift the lever up. Good boy. Doesn't think about it too long, he just does it. Come on. ALDA: Now the setup's been changed so that the arrow says "twist." PEPPERBERG: Good boy. ALDA: Griff will respond with the appropriate motion no matter where the instruction arrows are placed. Irene plans to see if her parrots can respond to a series of instructions-- twist, lift, pull; pull, twist, lift-- to both study how they think and to be a prototype game console for smart parrots everywhere. Okay, good boy. This is what we call our "Interpet Explorer." And they... they like that? ALDA: Another of her prototypes is based on a familiar Web browser. It's not really oa Web-based system where they can't get onto the Net. But what it is is a bunch of different sites that they can access through these little things. The parrots access sites? Yes, we're hoping they will. This is... actually just got it up and running this week. Are you watching, Alex? Look, I pushed and I got a parrot. Yeah, you see that? Take a look back here. Look back here. Alex, look, look here. I move this one... Okay... (over computer): Hi... There's me! Yeah. It's behind you. ALDA: During our filming Alex remained resolutely uninterested in the browser even when it was showing video of his wild cousins in Africa. There's nothing we can put on here that will be as interesting as you and me sitting here talking. And the purpose of this is for something they can do when they're alone in their cage. And we'll be setting it up in the next couple of weeks and then videotaping what they do. When they're alone. When they're alone. (chirping) ALDA: Of course, that was something we couldn't resist eavesdropping on. So we, too, set up an unattended camera to see how Alex liked his browser when no one was around. Fine. He didn't seem to be much into pictures but music, well, just listen to this. (fast rock 'n' roll music plays as Alex whistles) And he loved the video of one of his human friends. (man on video whistles, then speaks indistinctly) (whistling) So then, I gueAss, eventually, in a couple of months or so you'll be able to give him his own credit card and let him go to Amazon.com. You know, actually he can go to the PBS web site and he can getScientific American Frontiers and he can see this episode right on his own computer and he can watch it over and over again. And see if he likes it. Well, he's bound to like it. I mean, we give parrots what they want. (doing wolf whistle)

				The Bite Stuff A new dog food battles tooth decay, and bad doggie breath.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: America's pets eat nine billion dollar's worth of commercial pet food a year. These dogs are members of a canine elite that decides what the rest of the nation's dogs-- or at least their owners-- will be buying next. WOMAN: Denny, come here! Denny! ALDA: They are taste testers at the Kansas research center of a leading pet food manufacturer. She's sniffing; I think she's sniffing here. Hi, Alan, this is Tango Hiya, Tango. ALDA: As I found out, the big trend for dogs-- as in humans-- is to healthier, less-fattening foods. Even the newest treats are nutritionally balanced. Looks like sort of a brown rigatoni. You can eat these... if you want they're just not that flavorful. You know, this doesn't taste bad. If you would use these as hors d'oeuvres at your next party, they won't break you. (laughing heartily) You could just pass one around. ALDA: There's a back-to-nature trend, too. Before people were responsible for feeding dogs what did dogs eat on their own? Well, dogs are omnivorous naturally. They eat plants and animal tissues. So, in the wild they tend to eat things like small mammals, rabbits, mice, rats. ALDA: The surprise on the list was plants. Coyotes will go in and devastate melon patches and, uh, plums and cherries, that sort of thing. If you look at his teeth these in the front are his canines. These were adapted for cutting and tearing. They're actually sharp on the backside. But the back teeth are a more table-like surface for grinding. ALDA: In the wild, tearing and chewing all those plants and animals keep dogs' teeth in good shape but supermarket diets don't give the teeth that good a workout. Let's pull up the canine tooth, the stained tooth. Okay. ALDA: The result has become a common sight to dog owners and veterinarians. The computer reveals that the only the tips of the teeth are clean. The plaque, stain and tartar cause gum disease. But there is a solution. ALDA: How often do you brush a dog's teeth? MAN: Well, it's highly recommended but it's not often done. Most veterinarians-- if not all-- willrecommend that all dogs have their teeth brushedas part of a... How often though? Every day. Every day? Every day. Because plaque builds up...? Within minutes. Within minutes? Within minutes. Okay, now, open your mouth, Penny. I'm just going to brush your teeth a little bit, okay? Just open up your mouth a little. ALDA: It's no surprise only one in six owners brush their dog's teeth. I think I need a little help with this. Come here... WOMAN: Penny... How would you do it? You want to settle her down and make sure she's not upset. And you do, like, a circular motion? Mm-hmm, go back in. You see, even with positive reinforcement she's already developing... a lot of anti-brushing behaviors. This is really tough to believe that somebody's going to do this every day. Well, that drove us toward the one aspect of the concept of developing a diet that would be like having an edible toothbrush. ALDA: This is conventional dried dog food-- kibble. It's bite-sized, and that's its first problem. They're just inhaling this food; they're not even chewing it. And so to get an active effect in the mouth we're going to have to make the kibble size much larger. ALDA: The research team swung into action. The first priority, design a bigger, bolder kibble. But that was the easy part. As the first prototypes rolled off the production line the bigger problem facing the development team was to make a kibble you can really sink you teeth into. The products that are out there today don't have the texture that we're looking for because if you... break this stuff, it just shatters. There's nothing left for the tooth to be cleaned with to have that tooth-brushing effect. ALDA: To have a tooth-brushing effect the kibble has to hold together while the tooth sinks in. Here's the artificial tooth, complete with artificial plaque they use to test their prototypes. First, the old-style kibble. Only the very tip makes contact before the kibble breaks up. But with the eventual winning design the tooth sinks in and is wiped clean. The secret is inside where a scanning electron microscope reveals long vegetable fibers that bind the kibble together as the tooth slides through it. A normal kibble, with no fiber fabric, simply crumbles. So the new kibble works in the lab. But what about where it counts? Wendy is having her teeth painted with the same discoloring stain dentists use to show up plaque on human teeth. After the staining Wendy is let loose on a bowl of the new dental kibble. Two kibbles later... and most of the stain is gone. RICHARDSON: You see back here on this tooth that we had looked at earlier is now less intense clear down to the gum line. ALDA: Wendy settles in for four or five more pieces. (grinding) Let's take one last look at, uh, at Wendy's teeth. Open up, going to take a look at your teeth here. She's a bit embarrassed... Wow, look at that, that's pretty clean. ALDA: The edible toothbrush had certainly done a better job on Wendy's teeth than I had. Good job. ALDA: But edible toothbrushes won't work if they're not eaten. So after a flavor-boosting spray of fat and seasoning the kibble is ready for the all-important taste-test. Tango was first up and, like a good company dog, he made the right choice. After that, though, on the day we came to film things went downhill. (crunching) (crunching) But, of course, there was an explanation. It turns out dogs don't choose by taste alone. Where the bowl is matters, too. WOMAN: Some dogs are either right-handed or left-handed just as some people might be. And in order to get around that bias we usually run a two-day test. And on the first day of the test pan "A" would be on the left side and then on the second day of the test pan "A" would be on the right side. So with the two days and switching the bowls from side to side on either day we avoid that "pawedness." ALDA: According to the manufacturer, the verdict by the taste tasters was two-to-one in favor of the tooth-scrubbing kibble. (crunching) Today it's available by prescription from your vet for any dog with a tooth or breath problem. Speaking of which before I left, there was one more testing panel to visit. This time, the testers were human. (sniffing) What do you do in this room? We have developed a trained sensory panel of individuals who are able to detect odors in dogs' breath and to quantify them. You have a trained panel of people who smell doggie breath for... for their...? I mean, that's what they do? Absolutely, in addition to their regular jobs they volunteer for this. Ahh, that's good; this is just a hobby. Absolutely. Do you grade it, like one to ten-- this is really bad-- or do you have names for how bad it is? We have a scale of zero to nine. Zero is no noticeable bad breath. Nine is "knock 'em dead." ALDA: One of the beagles has been eating the new kibble the other a regular diet. After the professionals make their choice... All right, put it right here, Blackjack. Do I have to get down to the dog's level? Yes. Say "ahh." (chuckles) How do you get the dog to...? What we do, the procedure is walk up, open up the dog's lips get your nose right down there and take three little bunny sniffs. (taking little sniffs) Let's see you do this. (chuckling): Okay. Come here, buddy. (sniffing) And that's all there is to it. Think about it in your head score it, rate it. Come here. When you speak about this-- and you will-- be kind. (sniffs) (chuckles) I don't know what this dog has been eating but this is definitely a dog. (light laughter) All right, all right... ALDA: I was hoping this one was on the new diet. (sniffs) It's a better smell over here, tomynose. I would've graded that dog probably a one and this dog probably a six. ALDA: Six out of nine. I never want to smell a number nine ever as long as I live. HUFFAKER: So it sounds like you're about ready to sign up for the panel. I think I could be a pro at this. It's been nice sniffing you. Good-bye.

Take a look at these related stories from the Frontiers Archive:

				If Only They Could Speak Research with sea lions, parrots and chimps shows that many species can be taught some type of language that allows limited communication.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: NO, WE'RE NOT. GOOD HEAVENS! Alda: IT TOOK HIGH-TECH MODELS AND BANKS OF COMPUTERS TO MAKE BUT AT ITS CORE BABE EXPRESSES AN AGE-OLD HUMAN FANTASY: TALKING ANIMALS. OUR MOM CALLED US ALL THE SAME. AND WHAT WAS THAT, DEAR? SHE CALLED US ALL "BABE. " Alda: MEET HAMLET. HE'S A COUCH- POTATO PIG. AREN'T YOU, HUH? HE'S "HAMMY" TO HIS FRIENDS. AND MEET HAMMY'S BEST FRIEND PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR SALLY BOYSEN. HAMLET, YOU WANT A DOG BISCUIT? HAMMY... SIT. NO, FURTHER DOWN THAN THAT. FURTHER DOWN TO SIT. Boysen: THERE'S SO MUCH LORE AND ANECDOTES AROUND ABOUT HOW PIGS ARE SMART, AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE MUCH EMPIRICAL OR SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THAT. Alda: FOUR YEARS AGO, SALLY SET OUT TO SEE HOW SMART HAMLET IS. SHE USED THREE DIFFERENT OBJECTS, EACH WITH ITS OWN SIGN. BALL! BALL, HAMMY. BALL! WHERE'S THE BALL? GOOD BOY, HAMLET! Alda: EVENTUALLY HAMLET LEARNED TO ASSOCIATE SIGNS WITH OBJECTS BUT IT TOOK A LABORIOUS TWO YEARS OF TRAINING. BY THE WAY, DURING THE ORIGINAL RESEARCH SALLY WAS ALWAYS CAREFUL TO AVOID THE "CLEVER HANS" EFFECT-- NO EYE MOVEMENTS OR NODS OR GESTURES THAT MIGHT TIP HAMLET OFF. ( munching ) FRISBEE! FRISBEE! Alda: HAMLET'S MEMORY'S PRETTY GOOD; SALLY HASN'T TESTED HIM FOR THREE YEARS. BUT SIMPLE ASSOCIATIONS LIKE THESE ARE HIS LIMIT. HE CAN'T USE THE SIGNS IN ANY OTHER WAY AND WE CAN'T SEE HIS MIND AT WORK. VERY GOOD. THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE TO NAMING THAN JUST ASSOCIATING EVEN AN ABSTRACT SYMBOL OF SOME SORT OR A GESTURE WITH AN OBJECT. HE'D NEED TO BE ABLE TO USE THAT NAME OR THAT SYMBOL IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO SHOW US THAT HE HAD A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING THAT WAS BEYOND A MERE ASSOCIATION. ( grunting ) Alda: WE'RE ON THE CALIFORNIA COAST AT SANTA CRUZ. HERE THE ANIMALS HAVE A LITTLE MORE TO SAY THAN HAMLET. Alda: HOW MANY TANKS DO YOU HAVE HERE? WELL, WE HAVE TWO RIGHT HERE AND THEN THERE ARE SEVERAL BACK THERE. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO USE THIS ANTISEPTIC HERE-- THIS LITTLE FOOTBATH-- BEFORE WE GO ON DECK. OKAY. THESE ARE THE OBJECTS SHE'LL BE WORKING WITH. Alda: I'M HERE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ROCKY A VERY FRIENDLY SEA LION. Woman: DO YOU WANT A KISS? OH, ALL RIGHT, GIVE ME A KISS. GIVE ME... OH, GOD. ( others laughing ) ( whining ) WANT ANOTHER ONE? YEAH, YEAH. SHE'S KIND OF A SLOPPY KISSER, ISN'T SHE? THAT'S VERY NICE-- THAT FEELS GOOD, ROCKY. AS SOON AS YOU GET THE OKAY TO START "BALL" YOU TURN THEM UP LIKE THIS. Alda: FIRST I HAVE TO LEARN ROCKY'S LANGUAGE-- 24 SIGNS. YOU GO UP AND DOWN? RIGHT. Alda: NEXT THE SIGN "TOUCH WITH FLIPPER" FOLLOWED BY "GO DO IT" WHEN I DROP MY FOOT. DROP THE FOOT. OKAY. ( laughing ) ( all laughing ) I ALMOST WENT IN! Alda: NOW HERE'S "CUBE. " OKAY. ALL RIGHT. AND SO WE'RE GOING TO MERGE THAT WITH THE ACTION SIGNS. SO GIVE ME A "FLIPPER TOUCH. " OKAY, THAT'S GOOD. AND "TAIL TOUCH. " I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT. THEY LOOK DECENT FOR A FIRST-TIMER. DECENT? GOT A HIGH STANDARD. WELL, I PROBABLY HAVE SOME KIND OF AN ACCENT. I HOPE SHE RECOGNIZES MY ACCENT. Alda: OKAY, LET'S TALK. GRAB A COUPLE OF PIECES OF FISH AND JUST TOSS THEM IN. SHE KNOWS YOU'RE GOING TO FEED HER. THERE YOU GO. OKAY. OKAY, NOW POINT TO YOUR FOOT. OH, THERE YOU GO. NOW WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HER "CUBE, FLIPPER TOUCH. " READY? Trainer: OKAY, "CUBE... " "FLIPPER TOUCH. " OKAY, SHE WASN'T QUITE SURE ABOUT THAT. Schusterman: THAT WAS VERY... SHE SURE LOOKS CUTE. Alda: ROCKY'S NOT HAPPY. ( Rocky barking ) SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. LET'S DO A "BALL, TAIL TOUCH. " "BALL, TAIL TOUCH," OKAY. Trainer: OKAY... Alda: OKAY, "BALL"-- LOOKING GOOD. ROCKY CHECKS FOR THE BALL-- AND "TAIL TOUCH. " OH, NO, SHE DOES "BALL, FETCH. " ( light laughter ) NOW, WHAT, IS THIS MY ACCENT THAT'S GETTING HER CONFUSED, OR WHAT? Alda: ALL RIGHT, LET'S TRY AGAIN, IN MY BEST SIGNING. OKAY. Alda: "BALL... " OKAY. Alda: "TAIL-TOUCH. " THERE SHE GOES. OKAY, WHOA, FAR OUT, BRAVO, TERRIFIC! Alda: IT'S AN EXHILARATING FEELING TO REALLY GET THROUGH TO AN ANIMAL. GOOD, HUH? DO A "CUBE, FLIPPER. " REMEMBER "FLIPPER TOUCH"? Trainer: OKAY. Alda: "CUBE... " OKAY. Alda: "FLIPPER TOUCH. " OKAY, VERY GOOD. Alda: NOW I'M GOING TO ASK A QUESTION. OKAY. Alda: "FOOTBALL... " Trainer: OKAY. Alda: "IS IT HERE? " ROCKY HEADS RIGHT FOR THE "YES" BUTTON. HEY, BRAVO. IT'S GREAT IN SHOW BUSINESS, ISN'T IT? Alda: ONCE ROCKY GETS USED TO MY ACCENT IT'S OBVIOUS SHE REALLY DOES GET IT. SHE KNOWS, AT SOME LEVEL AT LEAST, WHAT MY SIGNS MEAN AND UNLIKE HAMLET THE PIG, SHE CAN USE THEM IN DIFFERENT WAYS. SO WITH ROCKY THERE'S AT LEAST A BRIEF GLIMPSE INTO AN ANIMAL MIND. SHE CLIPPED IT WITH HER FOOT. Alda: IN FACT OVER THE YEARS THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE COMMUNICATION WITH ANIMALS. GIVE ME A KISS. Alda: THIS IS WASHOE THE CHIMP IN THE LATE 1960s. WATCH WASHOE MAKE A SIGN MEANING "OPEN. " WASHOE WAS RAISED FROM INFANCY BY RESEARCHERS ALLEN AND BEATRIX GARDNER WHO TREATED WASHOE AS IF SHE WERE A HUMAN CHILD. WASHOE LEARNED TO USE OVER 130 AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE SIGNS BY THE TIME SHE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD. FOR INSTANCE, THESE SIGNS MEAN "ME WASHOE. " IT WAS A TREMENDOUS BREAKTHROUGH AND THE GARDNERS LATER REPEATED AND EXTENDED THEIR SUCCESS WITH FOUR OTHER CHIMPS. THESE EXPERIMENTS SHOWED THAT ANIMALS AND HUMANS COULD COMMUNICATE USING A HUMAN LANGUAGE, OPENING UP THE POSSIBILITY OF OUR PROBING OTHER ANIMALS' THOUGHTS BY SIMPLY TALKING. Man: COME ON, WHAT IS IT? Parrot: KEY CHAIN. GOOD BOY! Alda: THE PAYOFF OF EASY TWO-WAY HUMAN-ANIMAL COMMUNICATION CAN BE SEEN WITH ALEX THE PARROT. WHAT IS IT? ROCK. GOOD BOY. Alda: ALEX CAN DISTINGUISH AND NAME DIFFERENT OBJECTS. NAIL. Woman: NAIL, THAT'S RIGHT. YOU'RE A GOOD BIRDIE. Alda: AND DIFFERENT COLORS. WHAT COLOR? YELLOW. YELLOW, THAT'S RIGHT. Alda HE CAN IDENTIFY DIFFERENT MATERIALS. Man: WHAT MATTER? WOOD. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, VERY GOOD. Alda: ALEX CAN COUNT. HOW MANY? GOOD BOY, HOW MANY? TWO. GOOD PARROT, GOOD BOY. ONE, TWO. Alda: AND HE CAN ALSO GRASP ABSTRACT CONCEPTS. OKAY, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT'S DIFFERENT? WHAT'S DIFFERENT? COLOR. Alda: IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING, THESE RESEARCHERS ARE ALSO CONVINCED THEY'RE NOT FALLING INTO ANY CLEVER HANS TYPE OF TRAPS THAT MIGHT TIP ALEX OFF. GOOD BOY. Alda: ALEX CAN JUGGLE CONCEPTS IN AN ASTONISHING WAY. YOU KNOW-- WHAT COLOR BIGGER? YELLOW. GOOD BOY! GOOD BIRDIE. Alda: AND TAKE A LOOK AT THIS: OH, YEAH... LOOK. WHAT MATTER FOUR-CORNER BLUE? Alda: IN ALEX'S PERSONAL LANGUAGE THAT MEANS, "WHAT IS THE FOUR- CORNERED BLUE OBJECT MADE OF? " HE'S NEVER BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTION BEFORE SO THIS IS NOT A CIRCUS TRICK. THERE ARE SEVERAL FOUR-CORNERED OBJECTS AND SEVERAL BLUE OBJECTS BUT ONLY ONE THAT COMBINES FOUR CORNERS AND BLUE COLOR. WHAT MATTER FOUR-CORNER BLUE? WOOD. WOOD, THAT'S RIGHT. I'VE GOT TO GO EAT DINNER, OKAY? Alda: ALEX IS ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES OF AN ANIMAL USING HUMAN LANGUAGE. YOU BE GOOD. Alex: YOU BE GOOD. Alda: THROUGH THAT LANGUAGE, HE SHOWS A GRASP OF ABSTRACT CONCEPTS LIKE SAMENESS, OR THE IDEA OF COMBINING QUALITIES. BUT TEACHING LANGUAGE TO ANIMALS IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO STUDY HOW AND WHAT THEY THINK. I'M SORRY. YOU'RE A GOOD BOY. ( chirping ) I LOVE YOU. Alda: THE FACT IS, MOST SPECIES SIMPLY CAN'T HANDLE A HUMAN LANGUAGE; NEITHER THEIR BRAINS NOR BODIES ARE ORGANIZED THAT WAY. AND IF ANIMALS DO LEARN A HUMAN LANGUAGE THE VOCABULARY'S LIMITED. IT CAN ONLY COVER A FRACTION OF WHAT THE ANIMAL MIGHT THINK. ( hooting ) SO THE CHALLENGE FOR RESEARCHERS IS TO PROBE ANIMALS' MINDS WITHOUT THE AID OF LANGUAGE. ( howling ) TO SEE IF SOMEWHERE IN THERE COULD BE IDEAS AND CONCEPTS. THAT'S WHAT WE'LL EXPLORE FOR THE REST OF THE PROGRAM. ( whistle blows ) THIS IS RIO, THE STAR PUPIL OF RON SCHUSTERMAN AT SANTA CRUZ.

				Virtually Real Computer scientists create a 'smart room' that knows what you’re up to, and virtual pets that can virtually learn to obey you.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: I.T.'s MEDIA LAB CAME, APPROPRIATELY ENOUGH, ON THE SCREEN OF MY TRUSTY LAPTOP VIA THE INTERNET. THE LAB'S REPUTATION IS THAT LIFE THERE RUNS ON FAST-FORWARD THAT HERE TODAY IS A PREVIEW OF TOMORROW AND THE WORD IS THAT THE TOMORROW NOW BEING HATCHED WITHIN ITS STARK EXTERIOR IS A STARTLING ONE IN WHICH COMPUTERS, AS WE'VE COME TO LOVE THEM OR HATE THEM DISAPPEAR. AS A COMPUTER NUT MYSELF, THIS WAS SOMETHING I HAD TO SEE. IF IT'S GOOD-BYE LAPTOP, IT'S HELLO WHAT? WELL, HERE I WAS, MOMENTS AFTER ARRIVING BALANCING ON MY EMPTY HAND A VIRTUAL VERSION OF THE LAB COMPLETE WITH ITS OWN WELCOMING HOST. SANDY, CAN YOU WAVE YOUR ARMS ABOUT A LITTLE? Man: OKAY. HI, THERE, HOW ARE YOU? Alda: THE M VIRTUAL ME CURTAIN WAS SANDY PENTLAND. IN THE VIRTUAL LAB VIRTUALLY ON YOUR HAND. Alan: HIS ANSWER TO MY VERY FIRST QUESTION TURNED OUT TO CAPTURE THE LAB'S TRADEMARK RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY. SANDY? WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? UH, WELL, WE DON'T KNOW. WE FIGURED THAT... ( laughing ) YOU DON'T KNOW? NO, I MEAN, WHAT IS THIS SORT OF A GLIMPSE OF HERE? I MEAN, IT'S AN AMAZING THING BUT HOW WILL IT HELP US GET TO THE FUTURE? WHAT WE'RE SHOWING HERE IS IS THAT WE CAN TAKE REAL THINGS AND VIRTUAL THINGS AND PUT THEM ALL TOGETHER. YOU CAN THINK OF THIS AS SORT OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF VIRTUAL TELECONFERENCING. WE COULD HAVE A LITTLE CROWD OF PEOPLE AND WE COULD ALL EXPLORE THE BUILDING TOGETHER. YOU COULD MAYBE PICK PARTS OF THE BUILDING UP AND MOVE IT. IN OTHER WORDS I COULD BE HERE, AND YOU COULD BE IN TOLEDO... RIGHT. SPAIN, AND WE COULD BOTH GO THROUGH THIS VIRTUAL BUILDING TOGETHER. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT. AND WE COULD GRAB THINGS AND MOVE THEM AND THERE COULD BE MORE THAN ONE PERSON THAT'S VIRTUAL, LIKE ME. WE COULD HAVE PEOPLE NOT JUST FROM SPAIN BUT FROM ENGLAND AND JAPAN AND WE COULD ALL GET TOGETHER WITH OUR VIRTUAL REPRESENTATIONS AND TALK ABOUT THINGS AND DESIGN THINGS. I COULD BE WORKING AT MY COMPUTER AND THEN ALL THESE LITTLE GUYS COULD SHOW UP AND I COULD TELL THEM TO GO DO THINGS. THAT'S RIGHT, THAT'S THE IDEA IS TO BE ABLE TO COMBINE REALITY WITH VIRTUAL REALITY TO AUGMENT REALITY. WELL, THAT'S ATTRACTIVELY WEIRD. ( electronic gunfire ) Alda: WHAT'S EVEN WEIRDER IS MY PLAYING DOOM. BUT IN THIS GAME, NEITHER I NOR MY PLASTIC GUN ARE IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO THE COMPUTER. THE COMPUTER KNOWS WHAT I'M DOING BECAUSE IT'S WATCHING ME. I GOT 'EM, CAPTAIN. YOU CAN'T, SURELY, HAVE BEEN WORKING ALL THESE YEARS TO MAKE THIS GAME... NO, NO. SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY. WHAT'S THIS GOING TO LEAD TO? WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IS WE WERE WORKING ON BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN MOTION AND RECOGNIZE GESTURES AND THINGS AND I CAME IN ONE DAY AND SOMEONE-- ONE OF MY STUDENTS-- HAD HOOKED IT UP TO DOOM. Alda: BRUCE BLUMBERG IS ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE TEAM WORKING ON AN ENVIRONMENT THAT CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT SOMEONE IN IT IS DOING-- A SMART ROOM. AND IT SEEMS TO KNOW I'M HERE BECAUSE THAT BLUE BLOB IS ME AND YOU, RIGHT? RIGHT, AND YEAH, IF YOU LOOK AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN OR WHAT WE CALL THE MAGIC MIRROR YOU'LL SEE A VIDEO CAMERA. AND THE VIDEO CAMERA WHEN THE SYSTEM FIRST STARTS UP RECORDS A WHOLE BUNCH OF PICTURES OF THE BACKGROUND AND THEN WHEN YOU WALK IN IT'S LOOKING FOR DIFFERENCES SO IT'S COMPARING THE PICTURE WITH YOU IN THE WORLD WITH THE PICTURE WITHOUT AND SAYING, "WHEREVER IT'S DIFFERENT, IT MUST BE A PERSON. " NOW, WHAT ARE THOSE LITTLE, UH... SQUARES-- THE GREEN SQUARE, THE RED SQUARE? RIGHT, WELL, ONCE WE HAVE THE BLOB-- IT DOESN'T SEEM QUITE RIGHT TO CALL YOU A BLOB-- BUT ONCE WE HAVE THE BLOB WE DO SOME VERY SIMPLE GESTURE RECOGNITION. SO PART OF THAT IS FIGURING OUT WHERE THE HANDS ARE. SO IF YOU HOLD OUT THE HAND THE COMPUTER PROGRAM HAS SOME IDEA OF HOW LONG YOUR ARM SHOULD BE AND THE GREEN CUBE THERE CORRESPONDS TO WHERE IT THINKS YOUR HANDS ARE. AND SIMILARLY, IF YOU KNELT DOWN IT WILL THINK THAT YOU'RE SITTING. AND THAT'S BASICALLY DONE ON HEIGHT. WHAT DO YOU USE THE BLOB FOR? WHAT GOOD IS THE BLOB? WELL, THE BLOB IN ITSELF IS ONLY SO INTERESTING. BUT THE PURPOSE BEHIND IT IS THAT WE CAN USE THIS AS A FRONT END SAY, TO A VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM WHERE WE HAVE CREATURES. COULD I SEE THE CREATURE? OF COURSE. Alda: AND THERE IN THE MAGIC MIRROR IS BRUCE BLUMBERG'S ANIMATED CREATION, SILAS. HELLO, SILAS. Alda: NOW, SILAS, OF COURSE, IS SIMPLY A COMPUTER PROGRAM THAT'S GETTING DATA ABOUT WHAT I'M DOING VIA MY BLOB. ( whistles ) BUT SHARE A SMART ROOM WITH HIM FOR A WHILE AND IT'S EASY TO FORGET. COME HERE, COME HERE. SIT. ( Silas barks ) SIT! ( barks again ) OH, WOW, LOOK AT THAT! HE'S LIKE A REAL DOG THAT SOMETIMES HE'LL RESPOND TO YOUR GESTURES AND SOMETIMES NOT. WILL HE BEG? YEAH, PUT BOTH HANDS OVER YOUR HEAD... WHOA, YOU ARE A PRO! NOW, SOMETIMES SILAS WILL DO WHAT HE WANTS SO RIGHT NOW I THINK HE'S HEADING OFF TO GET A BALL, BECAUSE HE FIGURES... GIVE ME THE BALL, GIVE ME THE BALL. OKAY, NOW I'LL THROW THE BALL FOR HIM. THERE YOU GO. HE ALWAYS GOES AFTER THE BALL, HMM? HE GOES AFTER THE BALL UNLESS HE REALLY HAD TO GET A DRINK OF WATER OR SOMETHING ELSE. HOW DOES HE KNOW HE WANTS A DRINK OF WATER? HE HAS A NUMBER OF BUILT-IN MOTIVATIONS AND THESE MOTIVATIONS GO UP OVER TIME AND SO HE'S BALANCING SORT OF THESE INTERNAL GOALS WITH, UM, WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING OUT IN THE WORLD. AFTER HE HAS A CERTAIN NUMBER OF DRINKS OF WATER DOES HE HEAD FOR THE FIRE HYDRANT? YEAH. OH... AND YOU SEE, THAT'S WHAT MAKES ANIMALS AND THIS KIND OF GUY DIFFERENT THAN REGULAR ROBOTS IS THAT ANIMALS ARE CONSTANTLY JUGGLING A ZILLION GOALS AND WHEREAS ROBOTS TYPICALLY ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME AND PART OF THE SERIOUS SCIENCE HERE IS HOW DO YOU BUILD SYSTEMS THAT CAN DEAL WITH MULTIPLE GOALS-- WITH THE SAME SORT OF COMMON SENSE THAT DOGS HAVE? ( laughing ) WHAT'S THIS THING IN THE CORNER THERE? HE'S A HAMSTER. AND HE'S ANOTHER LITTLE CREATURE, TOO. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO PICK HIM UP. MAY BE A LITTLE PROBLEMATIC. I THINK I'VE GOT HIM. OH... NO. I'M LOOKING OVER THERE AND HE'S NOT THERE. I'M STARTING TO BELIEVE THIS. YOU KNOW, THE HAMSTER HAS JUST SUDDENLY FLOWN OFF THE TABLE. Alda: BUT NO SOONER DID WE DECIDE TO FORGET ABOUT THE HAMSTER... WELL, LET'S TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS. HOLD OUT YOUR... POINT WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND. OKAY. NOW, SILAS IS GOING TO RESPOND TO YOUR GESTURES. BUT HE DOESN'T REALLY LIKE THE HAMSTER BECAUSE EVERYONE LIKES THE HAMSTER AND THAT TAKES AWAY ATTENTION FROM HIM. HE'S JEALOUS. AND EVENTUALLY IT GETS TOO MUCH AND HE HAS TO... ( Silas growling ) NOW, WHY DON'T YOU JUST POINT LIKE THAT? MAYBE SILAS... HE LOVES TO WALK THROUGH MY LEGS. ( Silas whimpering ) SEE, SILAS IS SAD NOW SO HE'S GOING AWAY BECAUSE YOU'VE PUNISHED HIM. OH, I SEE. ALL RIGHT, COME BACK, SILAS. LET'S MAKE UP... NO, SILAS. ( Blumberg laughing ) ( Silas barks ) SILAS! HE REALLY HAS A MIND OF HIS OWN. COME HERE, COME OVER HERE. Alda: SO HERE I AM PLAYING VIRTUAL BALL WITH A VIRTUAL DOG AND THERE ISN'T A COMPUTER IN SIGHT. BUT COMPUTERS, OF COURSE, ARE RUNNING EVERYTHING-- FIGURING OUT MY INTENTIONS AS WELL AS ENDOWING SILAS WITH HIS DOGGY BEHAVIOR. Blumberg: WAS TRAINING SILAS,AT BECAUSE AFTER ALLREXG ANIMALS LEARN, AND SO I'M VERY INTERESTED IN, WELL, HOW CAN YOU HAVE THESE VIRTUAL CREATURES LEARN LIKE REAL ANIMALS? Alda: THAT'S THE HAMSTER? YEAH. THIS CIRCULAR AREA HERE-- THIS GRAY AREA-- REPRESENTS AN ELECTRIFIED MAP. WHAT HAPPENS IS A SEQUENCE OF LIGHTS WILL COME ON AND THEN WHEN THE RED LIGHT COMES ON THE HAMSTER GETS SHOCKED. ONCE HE GETS SHOCKED, WHAT MAKES HIM WANT TO COME BACK ON THIS GRAY THING AT ALL? HE'S NOT THAT SMART, BUT ALSO IT'S... THESE THINGS REPRESENT FOOD SOURCES. SO REALLY WHAT HE'S DOING IS HE'S FORAGING AND IN BETWEEN FORAGING HE'S PERIODICALLY HAVING TO DEAL WITH THE FACT THAT HE'S GETTING SHOCKED. SO YOU'LL NOTICE NOW THE RED LIGHT NEVER COMES ON BECAUSE HE'S ALWAYS FLEEING BEFORE HE CAN GET SHOCKED. YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE LIKE, VIRTUAL DOGS ROAMING AROUND OUR HOUSES? WELL, I THINK IT'S A POSSIBILITY. I HAVE A DOG AT HOME AND I'M NOT SURE I'D TRADE... WELL, MAYBE, SHE'S AN OLD DOG, BUT... UM, I'M NOT SURE I'M WILLING TO TRADE A REAL DOG FOR A VIRTUAL DOG. BUT YOU COULD IMAGINE SORT OF A ST. -GEORGE-AND- THE-DRAGON KIND OF ENVIRONMENT WHERE A KID COULD HAVE A PET DRAGON AT HOME. LET'S SAY I'M NOT INTERESTED IN A VIRTUAL PET BUT THERE'S OTHER THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE, RIGHT? LIKE WHAT? WELL, FUNDAMENTALLY THE PROBLEM THAT I'M TRYING TO SOLVE IS HOW DO YOU BUILD INTELLIGENT THINGS THAT DO THE RIGHT THING FOR THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TIME OVER EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME AND ADAPT? Alda: THE LATEST CHALLENGE TO SILAS'S INTELLIGENCE IS TO GET HIM TO FIGURE OUT HIS OWN WAY THROUGH A COMPUTER GAME MAZE. HE'S GETTING VERY GOOD AT IT. BUT IT MAY TURN OUT THAT SILAS OR INTELLIGENT COMPUTER CREATIONS LIKE HIM WILL HAVE THEIR GREATEST IMPACT IN HELPING THE REST OF US FIND OUR WAY THROUGH REAL-LIFE MAZES. MEDIA LAB PROFESSOR PATTI MAES. HOW IS HE GOING TO BE USEFUL TO YOU IN YOUR WORK? WELL, I ADMIT THAT SILAS IS... THE ONLY SORT OF REASON FOR HIS EXISTENCE IS ENTERTAINMENT AT THE MOMENT AND SCIENCE, OF COURSE BUT WE'RE ACTUALLY MAKING SIMILAR TYPES OF SOFTWARE THAT CAN HELP PEOPLE WITH REAL HARD PROBLEMS. LIKE WHAT? WELL, ONE SUCH PROBLEM IS FINDING THINGS THAT YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN. THERE IS ACTUALLY MORE AND MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE EVERY DAY THERE IS MORE AND MORE PRODUCTS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET AND IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY HARD FOR A CONSUMER TO FIND THE THINGS THAT THEY MAY LIKE IN THIS MASS OF INFORMATION THE MASS OF PRODUCTS OUT THERE SO WE'VE BEEN BUILDING SOFTWARE AGENTS THAT SORT OF ARE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR YOU TRYING TO FIND THINGS THAT YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN. ACTUALLY, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN SHOW YOU RIGHT NOW AND THAT THE VIEWERS CAN TRY OUT THEMSELVES ON THE WEB. OH, THAT'S NOW? IT'S ON THE WEB NOW? YEAH, LET ME SHOW THIS TO YOU TODAY. Alda: AS SOMEONE WHO'S SPENT HOURS SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION ON THE WEB HAVING A NOTIONAL SILAS FETCH THINGS FOR ME IS APPEALING. PATTI MAES'S INTELLIGENT AGENT IS CALLED FIREFLY. IT'S DESIGNED TO HELP PEOPLE FIND MUSIC OR MOVIES THEY MIGHT LIKE. Alda: IF I CLICK ON THIS, I CAN RATE IT? YUP, YOU CAN ALWAYS RATE IT. AND THAT'S MY RATING. YES. LOTS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE TELL THE SYSTEM WHAT THEY LIKE AND DISLIKE IN THE ORDER OF 100,000 OR MORE PEOPLE AND, UM, SO EVERYBODY HAS THEIR AGENT THAT KNOWS WHAT THAT PARTICULAR PERSON LIKES AND DISLIKES AND ALL THESE AGENTS CAN GET TOGETHER AND COMPARE THEIR USERS WITH ONE ANOTHER SO MY AGENT WILL TALK TO YOUR AGENT AND TRY TO FIND OUT WHETHER WE ARE SIMILAR-- WHETHER WE HAVE SIMILAR TASTES IN, UM... SO IF WE HAVE A BASICALLY SIMILAR TASTE IF THE AGENTS MATCH OUR TASTES THEN IT'LL TELL ME ABOUT MOVIES YOU'VE SEEN AND LIKED THAT I MIGHT NOT HAVE THOUGHT OF, IS THAT IT? YES, EXACTLY, EXACTLY. CLICK ON ONE OF THE MOVIES AND THEN ASK THE SYSTEM TO PREDICT HOW MUCH YOU WOULD RATE THAT MOVIE. Alda: WHILE FIREFLY IN ITS CURRENT FORM ONLY WORKS TO HELP FIND MUSIC OR MOVIES THAT PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR TASTES TO MINE HAVE ENJOYED IT'S EASY TO SEE HOW AN INTELLIGENT AGENT LIKE IT COULD SEARCH OUT RESTAURANTS OR STOCKS OR VACATION RESORTS EVEN POLITICIANS. WHAT PEOPLE REALLY NEED HELP WITH IS FINDING OTHER PEOPLE-- FINDING OTHER PEOPLE THAT SHARE SOME OF THEIR INTERESTS OR THAT HAVE DIFFERENT INTERESTS OR THAT ARE AN EXPERT IN A PARTICULAR AREA, ETC. AND SO THAT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE OTHER FUNCTIONS THAT THIS SYSTEM OF AGENTS PROVIDES. AGENTS CAN DO "MATCHMAKING"-- NOT SO MUCH ROMANTIC MATCHMAKING ALTHOUGH YOU COULD ARGUE, MAYBE THAT IF YOU GO AND CHECK OUT THE PEOPLE THAT LIKE THE SAME MOVIES AND THE SAME MUSIC AND WHATEVER-- BOOKS AS YOU LIKE-- THAT MAYBE THERE IS A... WELL, ARE YOU WORKING ON A MATCHMAKING... ARE YOU WORKING ON LITERALLY MATCHMAKING? WELL, IT'S NOT SORT OF... WE DIDN'T BUILD THIS TO DO ROMANTIC MATCHMAKING BUT AS IT TURNS OUT, I DO KNOW A LOT OF COUPLES HAVE FOUND EACH OTHER ON THE SYSTEM. THEY MET THIS WAY, REALLY? YEAH. Alda: NOW, YOU MIGHT WELL BE WONDERING, AS I WAS BY NOW WHAT WAS ALL THAT ABOUT COMPUTERS AS WE KNOW THEM DISAPPEARING?

				Who Needs Words Anyway? Rio the sea lion and Sheeba the chimp can handle abstract concepts like differences between groups, or how a small model represents a large object.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: FRISKY ANIMAL, WHOA! Alda: RON INSISTS THAT RIO CAN UNDERSTAND ABSTRACT CONCEPTS WITHOUT THE AID OF ANY LANGUAGE. TODAY, SHE'LL SHOW US THAT SHE GETS THE CONCEPT OF "GROUPS" OR "CLASSES. " BACKSTAGE THEY SET OUT CARDS WITH ONE OF EITHER 13 LETTERS OR 13 NUMBERS. FIRST, RIO'S TASK IS TO PICK JUST THE LETTERS. ( electronic tone sounds ) ( flute tone sounds ) LEARNING THE LETTERS WAS AN ARDUOUS PROCESS. IT TOOK RIO THOUSANDS OF TRIALS OVER MORE THAN A YEAR. ( electronic tone sounds ) ( flute tone sounds ) THE FIRST TIME SHE GOES THROUGH THIS SHE JUST SEES A BUNCH OF SYMBOLS. SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHICH ONE'S A LETTER, WHICH ONE'S A NUMBER. Schusterman: THAT'S RIGHT. THOSE ARE TERMS WE USE. SO, SHE KEEPS GETTING REINFORCED EVERY TIME SHE CHOOSES, LET'S SAY, A LETTER. ONCE SHE'S CONSISTENT AT THAT... THEN SHE FORMS A CLASS. Alda: TO LEARN NUMBERS THE REWARD FOR LETTERS SUDDENLY STOPS. ( electronic tone sounds ) Woman: NO! ( barking ) Alda: RIO DOESN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL. ( barking continues ) IT SOUNDED LIKE A COMPLAINT. YEAH, IT IS A COMPLAINT-- YOU KNOW, "WHERE IS THE FOOD? " Alda: NO NUMBER, NO REWARD. ( honks ) RIO TAKES A SWIM BREAK. ( electronic tone ) ( flute tone sounds ) FINALLY, RIO STARTS PICKING NUMBERS AND SHE'LL CONTINUE AS LONG AS SHE'S REWARDED. BY THE WAY, SOME LETTERS AND NUMBERS HAVE EXTRA FEATURES SO THEY'RE MORE DISTINCTIVE. REMEMBER-- TO RIO THEY'RE JUST SHAPES THAT BELONG IN ONE ABSTRACT GROUP OR THE OTHER. TODAY RON'S GOING TO ADD A NEW NUMBER. IT'S ACTUALLY THE NUMBER SIGN. Schusterman: NOW, THIS IS THE BRAND-NEW NUMBER. THIS IS A NUMBER SHE'S NEVER SEEN BEFORE? SHE'S NEVER SEEN BEFORE, RIGHT AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY IF SHE GETS IT CORRECT. Alda: RIO HAS TO INCLUDE THE NUMBER SIGN IN THE NUMBER GROUP. RIGHT NOW, SHE'S GETTING REWARDED FOR NOT PICKING LETTERS. ( flute tone sounds ) SHE ALMOST DIDN'T GET IT. NO, BUT THAT WAS REALLY NICE. YOU COULD SEE HER MIND WORKING. Schusterman: SHE USES WHAT WE CALL "EXCLUSION. " SHE KNOWS ALL THE LETTERS. SHE KNOWS THE LETTER SET; DON'T GO TO THE LETTER; SO WHATEVER THAT NOVEL THING IS, GO TO THAT. IT'S A BETTER BET FOR HER. Alda: TO ADD A NEW LETTER, THEY FIRST STOP REWARDING FOR NUMBERS. ( honks ) ONCE AGAIN, SHE TAKES A BREAK. Alda: SO NOW SHE'S IN THE WATER. SHE'S THINKING, "THEY'RE SWITCHING THEM ON ME NOW. " THAT'S CORRECT, THAT'S CORRECT. AND IF SHE GETS THE IDEA SHE MIGHT GO FOR A... Schusterman: IT MIGHT TAKE A FEW. IT'S HARD TO KNOW. ( honks ) SHE WENT TO ANOTHER NUMBER. OKAY, SO NOW SHE'S HAD TWO WRONG. SHE OUGHT TO GET THE IDEA NOW. WELL, MAYBE. Alda: ON THE RIGHT IS A NUMBER, BY THE WAY. AHA, THE OLD LIGHT BULB IS GOING ON. Alda: NOW SHE'S SHOWN THE NEW LETTER-- "N. " SHE KNOWS THAT EIGHT ISN'T A LETTER SO AGAIN SHE PICKS THE "N" BY EXCLUSION. OKAY, NOT BAD. NEXT WE'RE REALLY GOING TO CHALLENGE RIO'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE TWO GROUPS. THIS TIME THERE'S A SYMBOL IN THE CENTER AND RIO HAS TO FIND THE MATCH FROM THE SAME GROUP. ( flute tone sounds ) NOW RIO MUST BE PREPARED TO CHANGE THE GROUP EVERY TIME. Schusterman: SO "B" GOES WITH... ( electronic tone sounds ) "J. " Alda: "B" DIDN'T GO WITH NINE. BY THE WAY, I GOT THAT AND I WASN'T GETTING A HERRING. Alda: HERE'S THAT NEW NUMBER SIGN SHE JUST LEARNED. ( electronic tone sounds ) Alda: THAT WAS GREAT, THAT WAS GREAT. YOU CAN ALMOST SEE HER THINKING. Alda: THEN SHE GETS THE SAME NUMBER SIGN AGAIN. NOW, WATCH WHAT HAPPENS. ( flute tone sounds ) Schusterman: REMEMBER-- SHE JUST GOT REWARDED FOR THIS. THIS IS, THIS IS... YOU'RE STARTING TO GET TO ME WITH THIS. SHE JUST GOT REWARDED FOR CHOOSING THE NUMBER SIGN IN A DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCE. THAT'S RIGHT. IT IS NOW NOT IN THE RIGHT CLASS. THAT'S RIGHT. AND SHE DOESN'T GO FOR IT EVEN THOUGH SHE JUST GOT A REWARD FOR IT. YAY, BOB, YES. OKAY, OKAY, THIS IS REALLY MAKING AN IMPRESSION ON ME NOW. Alda: RON'S RESEARCH HAS LEFT LITTLE DOUBT THAT RIO CAN WORK WITH THE ABSTRACT CONCEPT OF CLASS OR GROUPS-- AND THERE'S NO LANGUAGE INVOLVED. ARE YOU SAYING THAT IN SOME WAY THESE ANIMALS ARE REASONING? YES, I'M SAYING THEY'RE REASONING AND THEY'RE REASONING WITHOUT LANGUAGE. I MEAN, THAT SEEMS LIKE AN EXTRAORDINARY CONCLUSION TO COME TO. I MEAN, I CAN SEE HOW YOU CAME TO IT BUT DOESN'T THAT STRIKE YOU SOMETIMES? DON'T YOU SAY TO YOURSELF, "GEE, I'M OPERATING ON THE IDEA THAT THESE ANIMALS ARE THINKING AND REASONING"? WELL, I DIDN'T ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT. WELL, IT MUST HAVE... WHEN YOU FINALLY REALIZED YOU BELIEVED IT YOU MUST HAVE SAID TO YOURSELF "WHAT AN EXTRAORDINARY THING TO THINK. " THAT'S CORRECT, I DID. Alda: WE CAN ONLY SPECULATE HOW SEA LIONS IN THE WILD MIGHT USE THIS ABILITY TO FORM ABSTRACT GROUPS. RON SUSPECTS THAT CLASSIFYING HELPS SEA LIONS SORT OUT THE MANY INDIVIDUALS THEY ENCOUNTER LABELING THEM AS FRIEND OR FOE, FAMILY OR NON-FAMILY, AND SO ON. IN OTHER WORDS IT'S AN ESSENTIAL PART OF BEING A SEA LION. HI, SWEETIE. Alda: HERE'S SALLY BOYSEN, WHOM WE FIRST MET WITH HER PIG HAMLET. SALLY'S MAIN WORK IS WITH CHIMPANZEES, AND SHE THINKS THEY CAN HANDLE ABSTRACT CONCEPTS WITH EASE. WE'RE GOING TO RUN A HIDE-AND-SEEK EXPERIMENT USING A SCALE-MODEL ROOM AND A MATCHING REAL ROOM THAT'S JUST A FEW FEET AWAY. SALLY SAYS THE CHIMPS CAN GET THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO-- THAT ONE CAN BE A SYMBOL FOR THE OTHER. HERE'S OUR LITTLE MINIATURE ROOM AND WE HAVE A REPLICA OF THAT CUPBOARD... AND A LITTLE CHAIR RIGHT HERE... BLUE TUB. WE HAVE A MINIATURE TREE HERE. Alda: AND THIS LITTLE CAN HERE? Boysen: THAT'S THE ITEM WE'RE GOING TO HIDE. OH, I SEE. THEY'LL WATCH AS WE HIDE THIS LIKE UNDER THE BLUE TUB. AND THEN I'D GO IN THE REAL ROOM AND HIDE A REAL CAN OF SODA AND THEN THE CHIMP HAS TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE WE HID IT HERE AND THEN FIND IT IN THE SAME PLACE INSIDE. WHAT'S THE REAL ROOM LOOK LIKE COMPARED TO THIS? BIGGER. YES. Alda: EVERYTHING IN THE MODEL HAS ITS FULL-SCALE COUNTERPART. THAT DOESN'T OPEN? YEAH, IT DOES. THE CHIMPS KNOW HOW TO OPEN IT. YOU JUST GO LIKE THIS. IT'S KIND OF AN I. Q. TEST, WHAT CAN I SAY? WHOOPS! Alda: WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING WITH STRONG, FULL-GROWN ANIMALS. YOU STAY OUT HERE. RIGHT, YOU'RE GOING TO BE IN THERE? YEAH. NOW, YOU'RE SAFE IN THERE? SURE-- BUT DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. OKAY. I HAVEN'T GOT A CHIMP AT HOME. ( chimp screaming ) Boysen: MISS SHEEBA? VERY NICE. OKAY, SHE HAS TO GET A LITTLE ROWDY HERE. ( Boysen imitates chimp breathing ) THIS IS SO MUCH FUN ISN'T IT? Alda: SHEEBA IS 17 YEARS OLD, RAISED FROM AGE TWO BY SALLY. ( both hooting ) ( loud crash ) ( laughing weakly ) THAT WAS CUTE. Boysen: THAT WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE. COME ON, LET'S GO TALK ABOUT THE SCALE-MODEL STUDY. ( Sheeba blows raspberries ) Boysen: OH, REALLY NICE. YOU KNOW, I'VE WORKED WITH ACTORS LIKE THIS BEFORE. ( Boysen laughs ) Alda: I HAVE TO ADMIT, SHEEBA'S NOT STRIKING ME AS MUCH OF AN INTELLECTUAL YET. Boysen: OKAY, I'VE GOT SOME REAL PEPSI FOR YOU, ALL RIGHT? ALL RIGHT, WHERE SHALL WE HIDE IT? LET'S SEE. I'M GOING TO TAKE THIS LITTLE ONE. ARE YOU WATCHING ME? AND I'M GOING TO PUT IT IN HERE. OKAY, WATCH. I'LL PUT IT RIGHT IN HERE. ( whispering ): I HID IT RIGHT IN THERE. SO WE PUT IT IN HERE. SHALL I SHOW YOU AGAIN? LOOK-- I PUT IT RIGHT IN HERE. ISN'T THAT COOL? I KNOW-- I HAVE MAKEUP ON. SEE MY LIPS? I KNOW-- I HAVE DIFFERENT MAKEUP ON. NOW, YOU SEE THAT? WE'RE GOING TO KEEP ON GOING. NOW, YOU STAY RIGHT HERE. OKAY, I'LL BE RIGHT BACK. I'M GOING TO HIDE THIS REAL ONE FOR YOU, OKAY? STAY RIGHT THERE. STAY THERE. WHERE IS IT? WHERE DID WE PUT IT? IN HERE, RIGHT. THERE'S THE LITTLE ONE. OKAY, GO FIND THE REAL ONE FOR ME. HURRY, HURRY. SEE IF YOU CAN FIND IT. OHO-- GOOD WORK! SHE GETS IT OPEN. Woman: HERE'S BIG SNOOPY AND THIS IS HIS LITTLE FRIEND. THIS IS LITTLE SNOOPY. Alda: NOW LOOK AT HOW A 2½-YEAR-OLD HUMAN DOES IN THE SAME EXPERIMENT. DeLoache: LOOK, I'M HIDING LITTLE SNOOPY... Alda: THIS EXPERIMENT HAS BEEN TRIED WITH HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN. YOU WAIT HERE WHILE I GO HIDE BIG SNOOPY. I'M GOING TO HIDE HIM IN THE SAME PLACE IN HIS ROOM. AND I'LL GO FIND HIM. OKAY. OKAY, AMOS, BIG SNOOPY IS READY. CAN YOU COME FIND HIM? REMEMBER, HE'S HIDING IN THE SAME PLACE IN HIS ROOM THAT LITTLE SNOOPY IS HIDING IN. Amos: WHERE IS HE HIDING? DeLoache: REMEMBER, BIG SNOOPY'S HIDING... Alda: UNTIL ABOUT AGE THREE KIDS NEVER GET THAT THE MODEL SYMBOLIZES THE REAL ROOM. Boysen: SHEEB, THAT'S WHERE I PUT THE LITTLE CAN. SEE IT? OKAY, I'M GOING TO GO HIDE THE REAL ONE. Alda: SO IN ONE WAY SHEEBA IS SHARPER THAN THE AVERAGE 2½-YEAR-OLD HUMAN. THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT SHEEBA SEES THE MODEL AS REPRESENTING THE REAL ROOM AND IF THAT ISN'T ABSTRACT THINKING, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. Boysen: OKAY, I HID IT. WHERE IS IT? WHERE'D I HIDE IT? CAN YOU REMIND ME? REMIND ME WHERE I PUT IT. RIGHT THERE! OKAY, SEE IF YOU CAN GET IT FOR ME. HURRY, GO ON. OH, YOU FOUND IT. ALL RIGHT! GOOD WORK, GOOD WORK. Alda:

				Number Crunchers Rhesus monkeys and chimpanzees are found to have innate abilities to calculate, using addition, subtraction and even fractions.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: WHAT KIND OF MONKEYS ARE WE GOING TO BE WORKING WITH? Woman: THESE ARE RHESUS. Alda: WE'RE IN PUERTO RICO TO INVESTIGATE THE AMAZING COUNTING SKILLS RECENTLY DISCOVERED IN MONKEYS. I'M WITH PSYCHOLOGIST SUE CAREY AND SHE'S TAKING ME OUT TO A SMALL ISLAND JUST OFFSHORE. CALLED CAYO SANTIAGO IT'S HOME TO ABOUT A THOUSAND RHESUS MONKEYS. THESE MONKEYS HAVE BEEN HERE ISOLATED ON THIS ISLAND SINCE WHEN? THE '30s. THEY WERE BROUGHT OVER, INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH FOR BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH. Alda: SUE'S BACKGROUND IS STUDYING HOW YOUNG CHILDREN THINK BUT LATELY SHE'S BEEN LOOKING FOR THE ROOTS OF HUMAN THINKING IN MONKEYS. SEE THEM PLAYING IN THE WATER? Carey: SHALL WE GO UP THIS WAY? Alda: WE'RE GOING TO CONDUCT A SIMPLE COUNTING EXPERIMENT WITH APPLES AND BOXES-- IF WE CAN FIND A MONKEY THAT WILL PAY ATTENTION. Carey: OKAY, WHAT WE'VE DONE HERE IS WE'VE TRIED TO FIND A MONKEY THAT WAS ALL BY HIMSELF. THERE'S NO OTHER MONKEYS AROUND AS FAR AS WE CAN SEE. THEN WE'RE GOING TO SHOW HIM THAT THE BOXES ARE EMPTY. THEN WE'RE GOING TO KNEEL DOWN AND I'M GOING TO PUT TWO APPLES IN ONE BOX AND LAURIE WILL PUT THREE IN THE OTHER AND THEN WE'LL STEP BACK AND SEE WHICH ONE HE CHOOSES. IF HE CHOOSES THE ONE WITH THREE THEN HE KNOWS THAT THREE IS MORE THAN TWO SIMPLE AS THAT. OKAY. READY? YEAH. Alda: LAURIE SHOWS THAT HER BOX IS EMPTY WHILE THE MONKEY LOOKS ON. SUE MAKES IT CLEAR THAT HER BOX IS EMPTY, TOO. OKAY, DON'T LOOK AT HIM, ANYBODY. Alda: SLOWLY AND DELIBERATELY SUE PLACES TWO CHUNKS OF APPLE IN HER BOX. NEXT, LAURIE PUTS THREE CHUNKS OF APPLE IN HER BOX. READY. OKAY, WALK AWAY. Alda: WHICH BOX WILL THE MONKEY GO TO? Carey: OKAY, NOW YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED. HE WENT TO THE ONE WITH THREE. I SUPPOSE THAT THIS IS MEANINGFUL IF YOU DO IT MANY TIMES. WE HAVE DONE THIS VERY EXPERIMENT-- THREE VERSUS TWO-- WITH 15 MONKEYS, AND 14 OUT OF THE 15 WENT WITH THREE. HEY, LOOK-- EMPTY. OKAY, YOU HAVE THREE. Alda: TO ASSURE THEIR RESULTS WERE SOLID TRIALS WERE RUN WITH SEVERAL VARIATIONS. Laurie: GOOD, WATCH-- READY? Alda: THEY VARIED WHO PUT THE CHUNKS IN FIRST WHO HAD THE HIGHER NUMBER AND WHO WAS ON THE LEFT OR RIGHT. READY? Alda: REGARDLESS OF THE VARIATIONS THE MONKEYS WENT FOR THE BOX WITH THREE. SO THEY MUST BE COUNTING WHAT GOES INTO EACH BOX AND THEY DO IT AUTOMATICALLY. EACH MONKEY ONLY SEES ONE TRIAL. THAT MONKEY HAS NEVER BEEN IN THIS EXPERIMENT BEFORE. SO, I MEAN, THAT'S EXTREMELY INTERESTING. HE'S SPONTANEOUSLY COUNTING THE APPLES. HOW IS HE GOING TO KNOW THAT ONE OF US IS GOING TO PUT THREE AND ANOTHER IS GOING TO PUT TWO? BUT HE SEES APPLE, HE SPONTANEOUSLY COUNTS HOW MANY TIMES THEY GO IN THERE. Alda: USING A PORTABLE MAGIC STAGE LAURIE AND SUE ARE NOW INVESTIGATING WHETHER THE MONKEYS CAN ALSO DO BASIC ADDITION. THE EXPERIMENT WORKS LIKE THIS: A LIME IS PLACED ON THE STAGE AND A BARRIER PUT DOWN TO BLOCK THE VIEW. AFTER A BRIEF PAUSE, ANOTHER LIME IS ADDED. ONE PLUS ONE IS TWO-- NO MAGIC THERE. THE MONKEY QUICKLY LOSES INTEREST. IT'S VIDEOTAPED TO MEASURE LATER HOW LONG THE MONKEY LOOKED. NOW HERE'S ANOTHER SHOW. IT'S IDENTICAL TO THE FIRST, EXCEPT FOR THE SURPRISE ENDING. WATCH-- READY? Alda: ONE PLUS ONE EQUALS... ONE? Alda: THE MONKEY STARES FOR A LONG TIME MANY SECONDS MORE THAN BEFORE. SUE BELIEVES THIS MEANS THE MONKEY WAS SURPRISED-- THAT IT MUST HAVE KNOWN SOMETHING WAS WRONG. SUCH LOOKING-TIME EXPERIMENTS, AS THEY'RE CALLED WERE ACTUALLY DEVELOPED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON INSIDE THE MINDS OF HUMAN BABIES. WHEN SHOWN NONMAGICAL EVENTS LIKE THIS ONE THREE-MONTH-OLD BABIES GET BORED RAPIDLY. BUT SHOW THEM AN IMPOSSIBLE OR MAGICAL EVENT LIKE THIS... THE INFANTS STARE AND STARE. THEIR FASCINATION WITH MAGICAL EVENTS SUGGESTS THEY KNOW THE WORLD DOESN'T WORK THIS WAY. SO BASED ON LOOKING TIME, THE MONKEY WAS SURPRISED. HE MUST HAVE ADDED THE SECOND LIME TO THE FIRST AND REALIZED HE WAS SHOWN SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE. SALLY BOYSEN'S CHIMPANZEES HAVE SHOWN AN ABILITY WITH MATH THAT WOULD DELIGHT A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER. HERE, THE PROBLEM IS THREE PLUS THREE. SEVEN YEARS AGO, FRONTIERS RECORDED THE FIRST-EVER ATTEMPT AT ADDITION BY A CHIMP. HOW MANY? SHOW ME. YEAH, SIX IS THE RIGHT ANSWER. GOOD GIRL, THERE ARE SIX PEACHES OUT THERE. Alda: WATCH WHAT HAPPENED WHEN NUMBERS WERE USED INSTEAD OF PEACHES. HERE'S ANOTHER ONE. Alda: THIS IS SHEEBA, BY THE WAY THE SAME CHIMP WE DID THE MODEL ROOM EXPERIMENT WITH. HOW MANY WAS THAT? CAN YOU PICK? SHOW ME. FOUR! YEAH! Alda: SHEEBA REALLY SEEMED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT NUMBERS WERE ALL ABOUT. PERFECT-- IT WAS FOUR. HOW MANY OF THESE DO I HAVE? TWO BANANAS-- RIGHT, THERE'S TWO BANANAS HERE. Alda: THAT'S NOT ALL SALLY'S CHIMPS UNDERSTOOD ABOUT NUMBERS. AND ONE MORE TIME. AND NOW I HAVE THIS LITTLE WEENSY PIECE. IT'S A FOURTH OF A BANANA, RIGHT. Alda: SALLY DISCOVERED THAT HER ANIMALS COULD EVEN GRASP THE SOPHISTICATED CONCEPT OF FRACTIONS. I'VE GOT ANOTHER FOURTH. THAT'S RIGHT, THERE IT IS. Alda: SO THE OVERALL CONCLUSION IS HUMANS JUST DON'T HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE WORLD OF NUMBERS. Alda: WE ARE ACCUSTOMED TO THINKING OF OURSELVES AS BEING SO FAR REMOVED FROM THE OTHER ANIMALS IN TASKS LIKE THAT. IT'S SHOCKING TO REALIZE THAT WE'RE MUCH CLOSER COUSINS THAN WE THOUGHT. YEAH, AND FOR YEARS WE'VE THOUGHT ABOUT OURSELVES THAT WAY. EVEN ARISTOTLE SAID, "MAN IS RATIONAL BECAUSE HE COUNTS.

				Figure That One Out Tamarin monkeys and young ravens show a remarkable level of logical thinking and creative problem solving.
		Select text to jump ahead in the clip: " ( caws ) Alda: BERND HEINRICH HAS A PASSION FOR BIRDS. WHEN HE'S NOT TEACHING, YOU'LL FIND HIM OUT BEHIND HIS HOUSE WHERE HE KEEPS AN AVIARY FILLED WITH RAVENS THE LARGEST TYPE OF CROW. Heinrich: OKAY, YEAH... OKAY, LET'S OPEN UP THE DOOR HERE, HUH? COME ON, YOU. Alda: WHEN IT COMES TO BRAINS, CROWS HAVE AN A-PLUS REPUTATION. Heinrich: THE CROW FAMILY HAS ALWAYS BEEN THOUGHT TO BE EXTREMELY INTELLIGENT ALTHOUGH THE INTERESTING PART IS, YOU KNOW WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE SO INTELLIGENT WHEN IN FACT THERE AREN'T ANY REAL TESTS THAT HAVE EXAMINED THAT? AND SO THAT'S THE CHALLENGING PART IS TO FIND OUT, YOU KNOW HOW INTELLIGENT ARE THEY? AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THEY'RE INTELLIGENT? Alda: ONE EFFECTIVE WAY TO TEST AN ANIMAL'S INTELLIGENCE IS TO SEE HOW IT HANDLES A DIFFICULT SITUATION FOR THE FIRST TIME. AND TODAY, THIS TEN-MONTH-OLD RAVEN IS IN FOR A SURPRISE. WHAT WILL THE BIRD DO WHEN DINNER IS TIED TO A STRING AND THE STRING TIED TO A BRANCH? STRING IS SOMETHING THE RAVEN HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND AT FIRST THE BIRD IS TOO CAUTIOUS TO GO NEAR IT. BERND LURES THE RAVEN UP TO THE BRANCH TO GET IT FOCUSED ON THE MEAT. TAKE IT... Alda: THE FACT THAT THE RAVEN TRIES TO FLY AWAY WITH THE MEAT SHOWS IT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THAT STRING JOINS THINGS TOGETHER. YEAH... Alda: BUT ONCE IT'S HAD A TASTE IT'S DETERMINED TO GET ANOTHER BITE. OKAY, NOW THAT WE SAW THAT YOU'VE TRIED TO FLY OFF WITH IT. Alda: WELL, THAT DOESN'T GET THE MEAT. SO NOW WHAT? WITH THIS NEW STRATEGY, THE MEAT'S MOVING BUT IT'S NOT GETTING ANY CLOSER TO THE RAVEN'S MOUTH. THEN THERE'S A BREAKTHROUGH. IT'S A TOTALLY CREATIVE SOLUTION-- RAISE THE MEAT STEP BY STEP. BUT STILL NOT PERFECT. NOW THE BIRD KNOWS IT'S ON THE RIGHT TRACK. THEN, AS A TEST, BERND SHOOS THE RAVEN AWAY. SEE, HE'S NOT GOING TO FLY OFF WITH IT NOW. HE KNOWS IT'S ATTACHED. Alda: BERND HAS FOUND THAT INDIVIDUAL RAVENS COME UP WITH DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS AND SOME FAIL ENTIRELY. SO IT'S UNLIKELY THAT THE SOLUTION IS GENETICALLY PROGRAMMED INTO THE BIRDS. BERND CONCLUDES THAT THE SUCCESSFUL BIRDS MUST THINK THE PROBLEM THROUGH. Heinrich: THERE WASN'T ANY VERY LONG TRIAL-AND-ERROR LEARNING. IF THERE WAS ANY LEARNING, IT WAS EXTREMELY QUICKLY. AND I COULD ONLY EXPLAIN THAT HE HAD SOME CONCEPT OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING, OF WHAT HE WAS DOING. Alda: NEXT STOP-- HARVARD, WHERE BEFORE WE CAN FILM THE ANIMALS HAVE TO GET USED TO ME AND THE CAMERA. THEY'RE LITTLE SOUTH AMERICAN MONKEYS CALLED COTTON-TOP TAMARINS. ( tamarins squeaking, chirping ) ARE THEY GETTING USED TO ME HERE? THE ANIMALS STARTED OFF GIVING WHAT WE THINK OF AS ALARM CHIRPS. THEY'RE CHIRPS THAT ARE VERY EVOCATIVE OF BEING A LITTLE BIT AFRAID, CURIOUS, INVESTIGATIVE. AND NOW THEY'RE GIVING BASICALLY SORT OF LOW-LEVEL CHIRPS. THEY'RE JUST CURIOUS NOW. SO THEY'VE REALLY GOTTEN USED TO THE FACT THAT YOU'RE IN THE ROOM. MY RATINGS HAVE GONE DOWN IN JUST A MINUTE OR TWO. Alda: MARC HAUSER, LIKE BERND HEINRICH WITH HIS RAVENS, ALSO DREAMS UP INGENIOUS EXPERIMENTS TO PROBE HOW ANIMALS THINK. Alda: THIS IS THE GRAVITY EXPERIMENT? HOW DOES THIS WORK? THAT'S RIGHT. THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT WHICH IS GOING TO DETERMINE WHAT KINDS OF EXPECTATIONS THE ANIMALS FORM WHEN SOMETHING DROPS. AND THE WAY WE'RE GOING TO TEST THAT IS WE'RE GOING TO SHOW THEM THAT THESE ENDING PIPES ARE EMPTY-- THERE'S NOTHING INSIDE OF THEM. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO CLOSE THE DOORS. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO INSERT AN OPAQUE TUBE UP HERE. AND WE'RE GOING TO TAKE A PIECE OF FOOD. WE'RE GOING TO WAVE IT IN FRONT OF THEM SO THEY TRACK IT. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO DROP IT. AND WE'RE GOING TO LET THEM SEARCH. Alda: WHICH DOOR THE TAMARINS OPEN UP FIRST SHOULD REVEAL WHERE THEY EXPECTED THE FOOD TO DROP. HERE'S OUR SUBJECT. FIRST HE GETS A CHANCE TO LOOK BEHIND ALL THE DOORS. HE'S CHECKING TO SEE THAT THEY'RE EMPTY? EXACTLY, HE KNOWS THEY'RE EMPTY. WE'RE GOING TO CLOSE THE DOORS. AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO GIVE HIM A TRACK. Alda: THE MONKEYS LOVE FROOT LOOPS. "GIVING HIM A TRACK" MEANS WAVING A PIECE IN FRONT SO THE TAMARIN FOLLOWS IT. THAT WAS QUICK-- LET'S SEE IT AGAIN. THE TAMARIN GOES FOR THE DOOR DIRECTLY BELOW WHERE THE FROOT LOOP WAS DROPPED. SO HE EXPECTED GRAVITY TO APPLY. SO LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN NOW. SAME CONFIGURATION. ( Hauser clicking tongue ) SAME ERROR. WRONG ONE, THE GRAVITY ONE. Alda: EVEN AFTER 20 TRIALS THE TAMARIN STILL MAKES THE SAME ERROR. IT WENT RIGHT FOR IT. HE DOESN'T LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THE TUBE. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. AND THIS REINFORCES THE VIEW THAT HE'S GOT SUCH A STRONG IDEA IN HIS HEAD THAT THIS IS WHERE IT'S GOT TO FALL. EVEN THOUGH HE'S NEVER GETTING REINFORCED THERE HE'S NOT GOING TO SWITCH HIS STRATEGY. Alda: NEXT MARC TRIES TO TEACH THE TAMARIN ABOUT THE TUBE BY USING A TRANSPARENT ONE. THIS TIME WHEN THE FROOT LOOP FALLS, ITS PATH WILL BE VISIBLE. NOW HE GETS IT. NOW THE CRITICAL QUESTION IS: HAVING HAD THAT EXPERIENCE AND BEING REINFORCED CORRECTLY NOW ON THE FIRST GO WILL HE NOW TAKE THAT EXPERIENCE AND GENERALIZE IT TO THIS NEW EXPERIENCE? Alda: THE NEW EXPERIENCE IS ACTUALLY THE ORIGINAL SETUP WITH THE OPAQUE TUBE. THE TAMARIN FAILS AGAIN. HE'S LEARNED NOTHING. BUT TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENS WITH ANOTHER VARIATION OF THE EXPERIMENT. THIS TIME THE TUBE APPARATUS IS ON ITS SIDE. THE TAMARIN GETS THE CORRECT ANSWER ON THE FIRST TRY. WITHOUT THE DISTRACTION OF GRAVITY IT WAS ABLE TO THINK ABOUT THE TUBE. WHEN WE SAY "THINKING" DO WE MEAN THINKING, CONSCIOUS, ALMOST CONSCIOUS... FULLY CONSCIOUS THINKING? SHOWING THAT THEY CAN TRACK OBJECTS AND EITHER FAIL IN THAT TASK OR PASS THAT TASK SHOWS THEY CAN MAKE AN ESTIMATION OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SOMETHING DISAPPEARS OUT OF SIGHT. NOW, IN ONE SENSE, THAT SHOWS THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO MAINTAIN AN OBJECT THAT'S GONE IN THEIR MIND, SO AT SOME LEVEL THAT MEANS THEY'RE FORMING SOME KIND OF REPRESENTATION SOME KIND OF IMAGE OF WHAT'S THAT OBJECT LIKE IN THEIR HEAD. Alda: MARC'S EXPERIMENT IS A FASCINATING ONE BECAUSE IT SHOWS THE LIMITS OF TAMARIN THINKING. WHEN GRAVITY'S INVOLVED THEY GET OVERWHELMED BY HOW THEY KNOW IT WORKS. BUT STRIP GRAVITY AWAY AND UNDERNEATH LIES LOGICAL THINKING JUST LIKE WITH THE RAVENS. Alda: