Abstract
This is a book review of the 1967 title "The Naked Ape" by Desmond Morris. The book is a narrative on the evolution of the human species and the review digests just that. Looking at the name, the object of human behavior and probability of evolution, the writer breaks down these theories for the reader by providing a brief look at some of the problems of Morris' arguments as well as some of successes. The general conclusion is that "The Naked Ape" provides a very interesting and compelling read, but much of the claims cannot be backed by scientific research.

From the Paper
"Aside from shedding the thick layer of fur that covers all other primates and most other mammals, Morris believes that one of the defining characteristics of the human species is the fact that we evolved as predators and omnivores--that is, we hunt and eat other animals in addition to plant matter. Hunting requires both a different skill set and certain different biological mechanisms than what exists in most other primates, and Morris believes that the hunting practiced by early human ancestors did much to separate them still further from other primate species, both as a reflection and possible cause of their evolution. In fact, Morris suggests that it is possibly because our ancestors became hunters that they also shed the layer of hair and fat standard to most other primate species; the elimination of this layer and the addition of many sweat glands Is more effective at minimizing overheating, which is necessary when a species is regularly engaged in a highly physical struggle for food--like hunting."

Tags:naked ape, desmond morris, evolution

Abstract
The paper defines the word consciousness and questions whether chimpanzees and other apes do indeed possess all three traits that make up consciousness as we know it: language, self-awareness, and theory of mind. The paper gives examples from animal communication research which show that they perhaps do possess these traits. It then looks at the critics of this theory who claim that the difference between the human and ape consciousness is vast and that apes cannot really claim to possess language, self-awareness and a theory of mind skills.

From the Paper
"One of the original researchers using sign language with apes, Herb Terrace is now a critic. Terrace placed a chimpanzee named Nim in a community of people using sign language to see if he would pick up the language, but found that only by bribing him with treats did he learn (Wynne 52). Terrace realized that Nim was simply using signs that his trainers had used in their question, so in effect he was just echoing what had been said (Wynne 52). Regarding Washoe's description of a swan as "waterbird," it is noted that perhaps she was simply naming two things she saw, water and bird. As far as Kanzi's ability to pick up symbolic language from observation of her mother's training, it must be noted that Kanzi was rewarded for her use of symbols and usually given the things that she named (Wynne 52)."

Tags:Great, Ape, Project, Washsoe, Kanzi, Herb, Terrace, Jane, Goodall

Abstract
This paper explores the third chapter of Desmond Morris', "The Naked Ape," as it relates to the development of human children. It discusses the content of the chapter under discussion and describes Morris' view on imprinting. The paper compares Morris' view with that of L. Salk and his strong case for imprinting. It concludes that these individuals are very similar, but their methods differ.

From the Paper
"In the end, Desmond Morris relies heavily upon the work of Salk in the third chapter of his book. Instinctively, I am inclined to think that Morris is correct in dismissing left-handed cradling; I am also inclined to think that the matter is more complicated than he acknowledges - especially given the findings of later research. Fundamentally, I prefer Salk's findings to Morris' simple regurgitation of them; by engaging in original research, Salk gives his conclusions an authenticity that Morris does not. Furthermore, Morris' refusal to cite studies supporting the arguments of critics insisting that left-handed cradling is caused by "right-handedness" in society leaves the reader with the impression that he erected a "straw-man" so that his own argument would be strengthened."

Tags:development, mother-child bond, cradle evolution

Abstract
This paper is in two parts. The first part reviews and summarizes past work in ape language research, including the Gardners' work with the chimp Washoe, Francine Patterson's work with Koko the gorilla, Lyn Miles's work with Chantek the orangutan and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work with bonobos and chimps. The second part is a proposal for an experiment to teach American Sign Language to a group of bonobos and then use these communicative abilities to test their memory and planning abilities. It includes descriptions of bonobo behavior in the wild and captivity, an argument for gestural language as the first human language and a description of the means of teaching and testing the bonobos in the proposed experiment. The paper includes a table and illustrations.

From the Paper
"During the Oligocene epoch of the Tertiary period, a small monkey-like creature lived in the rainforest trees in central Africa. About thirty million years ago, this primate ancestor diverged into two distinct species; one would father the line of Old World monkeys, including baboons and macaques. The other would become the predecessor of modern apes and humans. Around twenty-two million years ago gibbons split away from that line and formed a branch known as the lesser apes. Six or seven million years later, orangutans too diverged from the ape lineage and migrated to the Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo, where they remained highly arboreal. Another eight or nine million years passed, during which this ape line began to spend more time on the ground, and gorillas split off to become their own species. Two million years more went by, bringing us to the Pliocene epoch, which began about five million years ago. It was at this crucial point in evolutionary history that our ancestors and the ancestors of modern chimpanzees and bonobos took different paths, the former leading to bipedality, ground-based life, and hominization, the latter eventually splitting into two more distinct species about three million years ago, both of whom would remain remarkably similar to us physically, behaviorally, emotionally, and intellectually (Goodall, Hook, Leakey, Linden 1992)."

Tags:behavior, chimpanzee, hominoid, primatology

Abstract
This paper focuses on the use of animal symbols in the play and its message about society. It explains how the playwright uses animal symbolism liberally throughout the play to create a picture of the character of Yank, a brutish man who, it is implied, might be more at home in a cage. It explains, however, that he is a human being in spite of his animal nature, and the symbolism of the play is used to illuminate the character and to imply certain things about the human race, which often treats its own members more like animals than like human beings.

From the Paper
"The Old Salt Paddy is a living symbol of the past, and early in the play he mourns for a time about when sailors were free men. He offers a vision of a sailing ship, a symbol of man's freedom through a unity with nature in its exalted form. In the past, he says, "A ship was part of the sea, and a man was part of a ship and the sea joined altogether and made it one" (259). Paddy thus talks of a past where men worked hard but were a part of sea and sky, a partner with weather, with nature. Clearly, this is not at all like the dark and cramped work of Yank and the others, undertaken beneath the deck where they almost never see the sea at all and are separated entirely from nature."

Tags:yank, character

Abstract
This paper addresses a number of different language experiments that have been performed with all four species of great apes - gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos, and the advantages, disadvantages, and relative success of each, including conducted experiments. The author discusses the physical limitations of the apes, the advantages of using sign language as opposed to keyboard and symbol-based language, and criticisms brought up by various skeptics. The paper also mentions other types of cognitive activities in which the apes have participated, including painting and learning a system of economic exchange.

From the paper:

"The Koko Project is currently the longest running and most successful of all the ape language projects. Patterson's goal was for Koko [the gorilla] to learn 200 signs ? she now knows over a thousand, and understands at least 2,000 words of spoken English. She asks questions, she lies, she tells stories, she uses the negative, she uses and understands abstract words like love, hate, and death, and she even tells jokes. One of the most famous incidents involves a conversation between Koko and one of her teachers regarding the color of her blanket. As she was getting ready to go to bed, the teacher asked Koko what color the blanket was. Koko responded "red," even though the blanket was white. The teacher admonished her and asked her again, refusing to believe that Koko would make such a simple mistake. Still, Koko responded "red," and repeated it several times. The teacher was perplexed. Then Koko pulled a tiny piece of red lint off the blanket, pointed to it, and signed "red," and started laughing her deep, breathy, gorilla laugh. Humor, then, is another quality we humans can no longer claim for ourselves alone."

Tags:allen, ann, beatrice, bonobo, chimpanzee, david, fouts, francine, gardner, gorilla, herbert, koko, language, lyn, miles, orangutan, patterson, penny, premack, primate, roger, rumbaugh, savage, sign, sue, terrace

From the Paper
"This study will discuss how ideas of race get worked out in an analogy between Africans and animals (primates or other animals) in the 1932 film Tarzan, the Ape Man (directed by W.S. Van Dyke and based on the characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs) and Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (first published in 1937). The study will consider the ways the two works show how the relations of whites (colonizers) to Africans are similar to he relations of whites to animals. The argument will be that both works are similar in their views on the superiority of the "civilized" whites and the inferiority of both Africans and animals. Whites in both works, in general, see Africans as beings somewhere between animals and whites. Africans are shown to be slaves, servants, and beasts of burden. They are seen as violent, exotic, often emotionless, immature, stupid beings whose purpose.."

From the Paper
"Wasteland literature commonly lacks morally and ethically sound traits in its characters, however, rarely as vividly and ironically as in Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape. O'Neill depicts his characters as if they were zombies . . . or in this case, apes."

Tags:american, literature, o'neil, wasteland

Abstract
The paper provides an extensive literature review on the topic of communication among apes and discusses how it seems clear that apes can acquire some form of language and communicate with humans. The paper reveals that there is also evidence that apes may have a form of language of their own by which they communicate with each other. The paper discovers that apes would not normally acquire such capabilities on their own, but they can be trained to use language and respond to its meaning.

Outline:
Introduction
Review of Literature
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Research has been conducted for a long time on questions about the origin of language and how human beings first learned to speak. More recently, research has shifted to various primate studies as to whether or not other primates have what can be considered a language and in some cases whether apes can be taught to understand language and even to speak. Some of the early experiments in this area were seen as promising by some and as self-delusion by others, but the research continued and has produced a number of interesting results that may bring us closer to understanding the genesis of language and how widespread language is in the animal kingdom."

Tags:chimpanzees, language, acquisition, thought, processes

Abstract
The paper looks at a few studies conducted on apes and their ability to acquire language. The writer addresses the hypothesis that if researchers can learn how apes acquire language skills and how they process input from humans, it should be possible to communicate with them in a meaningful way. The paper presents a method of study, introducing the hypothesis and the test for reaching a conclusion.

From the Paper
"The design of the study would involve a comparison of the methods by which children and apes acquire language skills. The apes and humans tested would have to be raised from birth by the same caregivers and given the same exposure to language, either acquired by listening to it or acquired in specific teaching sessions. Learning of words and their association with objects would be studied first, then sentence recognition would be studied. Controls would be used to ensure that words and sentences were really recognized, and not just remembered by rote or by cues given unknowingly by the caregiver. These would involve presenting words or sentences in different orders, and varying the order of words in sentences."

Tags:testing, communication, verbal, humans