When the Apes Speak, Linguists Listen. Part 1. the Ape Language Studies
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Current Comments” EUGENE GARFIELD INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION* 3501 MARKET ST PHILADELPHIA, PA 19104 When the Apes Speak, Linguists Lfsten. Part 1. The Ape Language Studies Number 31 August 5, 1985 “Come open, “ “Hurry drink milk,” Tokyo, noted that apes do not lack the “You chase me,” and “Please machine intelligence needed for language. Rath- give milk” are all parts of conversations er, the most significant difference is be- between humans and apes. Since the late tween the human and chimpanzee vocal 1960s psychologists and anthropologists tracts.z Philip Lieberman, Department have launched intensive projects to of Linguistics, Brown University, Provi- teach great apes—such as the chimpan- dence, Rhode Island, reported differ- zee, gorilla, and orangutan—a form of ences in the structure of the oral cavity communication that is comparable to and less tongue mobility in chimpanzees human language. The apes are large tail- compared to humans. s In the chimpan- less primates that are classified just be- zee, the tongue is longer and narrower low humans in the evolutionary tree. Re- than the human tongue. The placement search on “animal linguistics” and the of the chimpanzee’s tongue and its ma- different approaches to it have resulted neuverability within the oral cavity pre- in debate among the ape language re- vent the chimpanzee from producing the searchers and among linguists as to the full range of vowel sounds necessary for definition and uniqueness of human lan- human speech, guage. This first part of a twopart essay Of the early efforts to teach spoken focuses on the ape language projects. language to a chimpanzee, the project Part 2 will discuss the controversies sur- carried out in the 1950s by Keith J. rounding them. Hayes and Catherine Hayes, then of the The earliest language experiments Yerkes Laboratory of Primate Biology, were attempts to teach spoken language Orange Park, Florida, was the only one to young home-raised apes. These at- to achieve even an approximation of oral tempts failed for many reasons. Accord- language. The Hayeses raised their ing to Winthrop N. Keflogg, professor chimpanzee, Vicki, in a home environ- emeritus of experimental psychology, ment similar to the setting in which hu- Florida State University, Tallahassee, man parents raise their chfldren. How- when the home-raised chimpanzee is ex- ever, Vicki never articulated more than posed to the same linguistic and social three or four words—’’Mama,” “Papa,” environment as a human child, the ape “Cup,” and something that sounded like displays little evidence of the vocal imi- “Up.” And these were learned with great tation common in children. 1 The long difficulty, over a six-year period, with period of babbling and prattling that hu- the Hayeses shaping Vicki’s mouth in man babies undergo seems to be a pre- some instances so she could articulate requisite for subsequent articulation of the sounds.4 words. The ape language studies and the en- Fred C.C. Peng, professor of linguis- suing controversies really began in 1969 tics, International Christian University, when R. Alen Gardner and Beatrix T. 293 Gardner, Department of Psychology, fore a box that the trainer opened to University of Nevada, Reno, introduced reveal the picture of an object projected Washoe—the first language-trained on a screen. The trainer asked Washoe chimpanzee-to the worlds In 1966 the the name of the object, and two observ- Gardners acquired Washoe, a 10 ers who did not know which object was month-old female chimpanzee born in shown on the screen recorded her re- the wild. Based on their observations of sponse, The Gardners reported about 90 spontaneous gestures used by chimpan- percent agreement between the observ- zees and of the proclivity chimpanzees ers,9 and that Washoe identified 70 to 80 show for imitation, the Gardners decid- percent of the items correctly. 10Howev- ed to teach Washoe a gestural form of er, even when Washoe made an error, language, American Sign Language she generally identified the item as (ASL), rather than spoken language. something in the same category as the ASL is a sign language that is used by pictorial representation. For example, deaf people in North America. It con- an animal picture was often identified as sists of a set of manual configurations another animal. and gestures that correspond to particu- These vocabulary tests served several lar words or concepts and has its own purposes. One was to show that the grammatical structure.b chimpanzee can use sign language to Although Washoe lived in a trailer in communicate information. Another ob- the Gardners’ backyard, she was raised jective was to show that the chimpanzee in a social environment “similar” to that could use signs to refer to natural-lan- of a human child except that ASL was guage categories. For example, they the only means of communication. No wanted to show that the chimpanzee spoken language was allowed in Wa- could use the ASL sign for “dog” to iden- shoe’s presence. ASL training took place tify pictures of dogs. According to the in the context of Washoe’s daily activi- Gardners both objectives were accom- ties. Assisted by Roger S. Fouts, then a plished with Washoe and with other graduate student in their laboratory, and chimpanzees in their later studies. 10 other assistants, the Gardners taught Ten months after the project began, Washoe sign language by molding her when Washoe knew approximately eight hands into the proper ASL shape, a signs, she began to combine two or more method they found more practical than signs. Washoe was then between 18 and waiting for Washoe to spontaneously 24 months old, which is close to the age produce the sign made by the trainer.T when children begin to use two-word At the same time, Washoe was shown combinations. These combinations al- the actual item represented by the ASL lowed her to ampliiy the meaning of the word. They repeated this procedure un- single-sign utterances. As an example, til Washoe made the sign spontaneously. the Gardners noted that Washoe signed Later, she learned signs by observing “Listen dog” when she heard an unseen and imitating. As a criterion for deter- dog barkings mining that a sign was indeed a part of The Gardners maintained diaries of Washoe’s vocabuhq, the Gardners re- Washoe’s use of language to estabfish a quired that she use it appropriately and record of the signs, the context of their spontaneously each day for 15 consecu- use, and interchanges between the train- tive days. After 14 months of training, ers and the chimpanzee. These record- Washoe knew and used 13 signs. By the ings, made by a skilled observer tran- end of the third year, Washoe’s vocabu- scribing Washoe’s signs into English lary had increased to 85 signs.g words, also provided a diary of her use of To test Washoe’s vocabulary, the signs in combinations so they could be Gardners devised a double-blind exper- compared with records of human chil- iment in wh]ch Washoe was seated be- dren. 294 The Gardners reported that the the Gardners reported that at this young phrases Washoe used were appropriate age, the chimpanzees used signs with to her referent. For example, Washoe variation in form and in appropriate referred to soft drink as “Sweet drink. ” variations in a basic context. 10.14 An The Gardners noted that she used sign example is Pili’s use of the sign “More” language for requests, and she answered when his water bottle was taken away or questions about objects and events. And after the trainer stopped playing with Washoe initiated many of these conver- him. sations with questions and statements of These chimpanzees, like Washoe, her own. At the end of the S1-month pe- were able to extend the use of signs they riod during which the Gardners worked learned for a few items, such as flower or with Washoe, the chimpanzee correctly cat, to include all flowers and cats. The used a total of 132 signs. 11 chimpanzees seemed to divide the world The Gardners’ work with Washoe into conceptual categories just as hu- ended in 1970. However, thk was not the mans do. For example, the Gardners re- end of Washoe’s language training or of ported that Moja, on seeing a large cut the Gardners’ involvement with signing of fresh beef on the kitchen table, signed apes. Washoe was moved to the primate “Meat.” Moja had not been taught to in- center at the University of Oklahoma in clude both fresh and cooked meat in the Norman, where Fouts continued her meat category. The transfer from language training. The Gardners’ work cooked to raw was spontaneous. 10 with Washoe demonstrated that ASL The Gardners were interested in the can be a suitable means of commu- ability of the chimpanzee to respond to nication for the great apes and that questions, because there is extensive chimpanzees are capable of performing data on this developmental aspect of and comprehending certain language child language. Children generally are operations. able to respond to “What,” “Where,” In the next several years, the Gard- and “Who” questions by the age of 21 ners extended their work to include four months. With the new group of young other chimpanzees-Moja, Pili, Tatu, chimpanzees, this aspect of language de- and Dar. To make a more valid compari- velopment could be studied. The Gard- son between language acquisition in ners found that Pili and Tatu responded children and chimpanzees, language with the appropriate sign to questions training for these animals began in early containing “What” and “Where” at 18 infancy.