ANIMAL BODIES, HUMAN MINDS: APE, DOLPHIN, AND PARROT LANGUAGE SKILLS DEVELOPMENTS IN PRIMATOLOGY: PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS Series Editor: Russell H. Tuttle University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois This peer-reviewed book series will meld the facts of organic diversity with the continuity of the evolutionary process. The volumes in this series will exemplity the diversity of theo­ retical perspectives and methodological approaches currently employed by primatologists and physical anthropologists. Specific coverage includes: primate behavior in natural habi­ tats and captive settings: primate ecology and conservation; functional morphology and developmental biology of primates; primate systematics; genetic and phenotypic differences among living primates; and paleoprimatology. ALL APES GREAT AND SMALL VOLUME 1: AFRICAN APES Edited by Birute M. F. Galdikas, Nancy Erickson Briggs, Lori K. Sheeran, Gary L. Shapiro and Jane Goodall THE GUENONS: DIVERSITY AND ADAPTATION IN AFRICAN MONKEYS Edited by Mary E. Glenn and Marina Cords ANIMAL BODIES, HUMAN MINDS: APE, DOLPHIN, AND PARROT LANGUAGE SKILLS William A. Hillix and Duane M. Rumbaugh COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE COGNITION: ARE PRIMATES SUPERIOR TO NON-PRIMATES? Lesley J. Rogers and Gisela Kaplan ANIMAL BODIES, HUMAN MINDS: APE, DOLPHIN, AND PARROT LANGUAGE SIZILLS William A. Hillix Professor Emeritus Department of Psychology San Diego State University San Diego, California And Duane M. Rumbaugh Regents Professor Emeritus Departments of Psychology and Biology Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia and Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary Des Moines, Iowa SPRINGER SCLENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC ISBN 978-1-4419-3400-0 ISBN 978-1-4757-4512-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-4512-2 ©2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York Originally published by Kluwer AcademiclPlenum Publishers in 2004 http://www.wkap.nlj 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A C.I.P record for this book is available from the Library of Congress All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Permissions for books published in Europe: [email protected] Permissions for books published in the United States of America: [email protected] PREFACE Several books chronicle attempts, most of them during the last 40 years, to teach animals to communicate with people in a human-designed language. These books have typically treated only one or two species, or even one or a few research projects. We have provided a more encompassing view of this field. We also want to reinforce what other authors, for example, Jane Goodall, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Penny Patterson, Birute Galdikas, and Roger and Deborah Fouts, so passionately convey about our responsibility for our closest animal kin. We have very different backgrounds. I (William A. Hillix) have written about the history of psychology and the systems and theories that are part of that history. Duane M. Rumbaugh, on the other hand, has contributed greatly to the animal language studies that have become an increasingly important part of psychology within recent years. Duane began his work with primates at San Diego State University in collaboration with the San Diego Zoo, and con­ tinued at Yerkes Laboratory in Atlanta, Emory University, and Georgia State University, where he and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh co-established the Language Research Center in Decatur, Georgia. He served as director of the Center for many years. His pioneering work with Lana and other chimpanzees established a tradition that continues to the present day. He used lexigrams as the medium of communication with chimpanzees, and later, with Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, moved toward an emphasis on the language comprehension of bonobos and chimpanzees rather than on the language production that had received most of the early attention. In recognition of the pioneering work of Japanese pri­ matologists, we have asked one of their contemporary researchers, Dr Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University, to describe the research in Japan that bears upon the learning and use of symbols in language and perception. We hope that this book will lead to a greater appreciation of animals and of our very closest genetic relatives-other human beings. If we can see ourselves in the mirror of chimpanzees, who are only about 98.7 percent genetically identical to us, why do we have such difficulty in seeing ourselves in the mirror of other humans, those very nearly genetically identical animals who differ from us v Vi Preface mostly in that they may speak another language or follow another religion? It may be too much to believe that this book could contribute to a greater appreciation of human-as well as of animal-life, but that is nevertheless our hope. In this book we will survey what was known or believed about animal language throughout history and prehistory, and summarize current knowl­ edge and the controversy that swirls around it. We will identifY, and try to settle, most of the problems in interpreting the animal behaviors that have been observed in studies of animal language ability. We will also present our best guesses about where research in animal language will go from here. We wish to thank the many researchers whose work we have cited and the animals that made their research possible. They are named in our Cast of Characters of contributors to animal language research (our apologies to both the animals and the people whom we have neglected). Duane M. Rumbaugh wishes to acknowledge long-term support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD06016 and 38051). Special thanks are due to Roger and Deborah Fouts, Allen Gardner, Louis Herman, Penny Patterson, Irene Pepperberg, David Premack, and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, all of whom read and commented on the chapters describing their work. We also thank them and Lyn Miles for providing and allowing us to print the photo­ graphs that enliven the text. Any errors remaining in this book are, of course, our responsibility. Every researcher and participant has taught us a great deal about humans, animals, and the degree to which language can help to unite them. William A. Hillix Duane M. Rumbaugh CONTENTS 1. A Chronology of Events in Animal Language Research 1 2. An Overview of Animal Language 9 Conversations with Animals 9 What Animal Language Researchers are Asking 10 Why is it so Hard for Chimpanzees to Talk? 11 Speech in Non-Primates 15 Bypassing the Vocal Channel 16 What is Language? 18 Why Study Animal Language? 21 References 23 3. Language Research with Nonhuman Animals: Methods and Problems 25 Language Evolves 25 Natural Animal Communications 25 Choosing a Species to Study 27 Can Animals Learn Language? 28 The Difficulties of Animal Language Research 30 Interpreting Animal Language: Glossing and Grounding 32 Computer Understanding 39 Conclusion: Semanticity is Critical 41 Changing Perspectives on Animals 42 References 43 4. Early Reports about Language in Animals 45 Early Mythology 45 Credulous and Incredulous Philosophers 46 Richard Lynch Garner 47 Vll Vlll Contents Herr von Osten and Clever Hans 50 William Furness and his Orangutans 53 Human Language in Home-Reared Animals 55 Toto and Maria Hoyt 55 Nadesha Kohts and Joni 56 Gua, Donald, and the Kelloggs 57 Viki in the Hayes Household 59 Lucy, the Temerlins, and Janis Carter 61 What will Happen to "Used" Chimpanzees? 65 References 67 5. Washoe, the First Signing Chimpanzee 69 Washoe comes to Reno 69 The Choice of Sign Language 69 Chimpanzee Creativity 71 The Gardners' Training Methods 72 Properties of Chimpanzee Signing 76 Chimpanzee Sign Vocabularies 78 Chimpanzee Understanding of Grammatical Categories 80 An Evaluation of the Gardners' Accomplishments 82 The Gardner Tradition Endures 84 References 84 6. Signs in Oklahoma and Ellensburg 87 The Journey of Roger and Deborah Fouts 87 A Voyage to Ellensburg in 2000 90 Contributions to Animal Language Research by the Foutses 93 Deborah Fouts Decisively Refutes the Clever Hans Claim 94 Improving the Lives of Captive Chimpanzees 95 References 97 7. Koko Fine Sign Gorilla 99 A Visit to Koko, Ndume, Penny, and Ron 99 Koko's Accomplishments 103 Koko and Michael 109 The Gorilla Foundation 109 Contents lX Koko's Contribution 110 References 110 8. Chimpanzees can Write with Plastic Symbols 113 Bypassing the Vocal Channel 113 The Premacks' Rearing and Training Techniques 114 Sarah's Teaching and What She Learned 115 The Effects of Language Training on Cognition 119 The Animal Mind 121 The Impact of the Premacks' Research 122 References 123 9. Lana Learns Lexigrarns 125 Lessons about Language from Studies of the Ape 125 Inception of the Lana Project and Keyboard 127 Language and Social Interaction 131 Reading and Sentence Completion 132 Conversations with Lana 133 Color Perception and Answering Questions 134 Don't Say It Isn't So 135 Carry On! 137 Representational Symbols 137 Sorting and Labeling Real Objects 137 Labeling Photographs 138 Labeling Lexigrams 138 Syntax 139 What's in a Word? 139 Long-term Memory for Lexigrams 139 Lana Counts 140 Cross-Modal Perception 141 An Overview of Lana's Lessons 142 Farewell to Lana! 145 Animal Language Research meets the Computer 145 Developing an Artificial Language 146 Lana Uses Lexigrams 148 Interpreting Animal Language Behaviors 148 References 150 x Contents 10. A Cultural Approach to Language Learning 151 The Language Research Center (LRC) 151 An Overview of Her Work by Dr Sue Savage-Rumbaugh 154 Savage-Rumbaugh's Work: A View from Outside 165 A Skeptical View 166 Methods of Proof 167 Learning to Share 167 Animal-to-Animal Communication 168 Classifying Lexigrams 168 Spontaneous Utterances 169 Apes, Pictures, and TV 169 Studying Spontaneity 170 Application to Human Children 171 The Star Pupils: Kanzi and Panbanisha 173 Bonobos and Chimpanzees 173 Dr Savage-Rumbaugh Presents Her Vision of the Future 184 References 186 11.