Show harvard birds smart naturally ally pigeons can play piano tell Tine jush push buttons CAMBRIDGE MASS smart birds these harvard educated pigeons fis thi they y are abbel allemo to play a tune on a piano play tible table tennis tell time press push buttons and ardai changing colors me like traffic lights the piano players can rattle off such simple tunes as over the fence Is out days boys andrake and take me out to tho the ball game and all the brains are not nol in the heads of the fancy homing varlet varieties lis the common park pigeon Is I 1 just ai as smart i B P F skinner professor of psychology at harvard has drawn these conclusions after a series of experiments the tests ire are designed to determine whether a child can be trained more effect effectively ly ely by encouraging good behavior or punishing bad actions how do you do it with pigeons the professor explains that pigeons are ideal subjects because they have a reaction time comparable to humans they are paid pta with food it their res responses pon sea to various tests bring the desired ri results the modified table tennis without nets getsla to played on a table two feet square one pigeon using its beak tries th the dball ball past its opponent rallies sometimes run to three or four shots though most are aces each successful shot brings a reward of food |