Jennifer Fisher Wilson | Oct 1, 2001 | 7 min read
In a University of Maryland lab, psychologist Robert Dooling trains hundreds of small, colorful parakeets, zebra finches, and canaries to chirp on command. In about three weeks, the birds learn to mimic computer-produced sounds. Once the birds' vocalizations match the template, Dooling, who heads the university's comparative psychoacoustics laboratory, rewards them with seed. Dooling isn't interested in producing sweet songs, but rather in understanding what happens when these little creatures