Abstract The paper describes the ongoing interest to chimpanzee's language ability, although they are a largely non-verbal species, who communicate by way of gestures. The paper explains that efforts to teach chimpanzees to speak, as they are almost 100 per cent genetically similar to Homo sapiens, are hoped to produce knowledge of human language acquisition, in the beginning and subjects of language development.
From the Paper "Marcel Danesi summarized post-World War II efforts to teach chimpanzees to speak, led by the 1960s research of Allen and Beatrix Gardner of the University of Nevada, that centered on their female subject "Washoe" which commenced when the chimpanzee was almost one year of age. (2004: 42, Gardner:1975) Washoe proved capable of using 132 signs of American Sign Language (ASL) within five years. Moreover, Washoe could combine signs to express sets of syntactic relations. The same was accomplished by four other chimpanzees taught ASL that, along with Washoe, were analyzed by Roger S. Fouts. (1996)"
Abstract The paper discusses the largely North American pursuit of debating whether the chimpanzee can be taught to speak. The paper explores the numerous experiments and hypotheses and the contention among social scientists. The paper describes how this work has continued since the 1950s and with earlier behavioral work in the 1930s, yet chimpanzees show little aptitude or interest in speaking with Homo sapiens.
From the Paper "The human enterprise of teaching chimpanzees to communicate in English has continued, as a venture of psychologists, as well as primatologists. In the 1920s and 1930s, Robert Yerkes examined the behaviour of chimpanzees in their African habitat, noticing that they would imitate his actions but not the sounds he made. Before long, the first of what has proven a succession of husband and wife chimpanzee-parents and language teachers materialized as in Kellogg & Kellogg who, in the early 1930s, stated that the vocal apparatus of the chimpanzee had made their teaching efforts impossible."
Abstract This paper examines the mean length of utterance (MLU) which refers to the actual length of the sentence uttered in terms of words and morphemes within a particular sentence. The paper particularly compares the utterance length in children versus the abilities of chimpanzees as measured by the MLU. The paper then looks at verbal and nonverbal associations of language and all of its complexities among children and chimpanzees.
From the Paper "Therefore, further studies need to focus on furthering the understanding of chimpanzee sign language as a true form of language. Furthering on Dwyer's 1986 research study, a new study should focus on the concept of comparing normal children's verbal language skills with chimpanzee's non-verbal language communication skills. The level of proficiency of both normal human children needs to be matched to young non-verbal communications of chimpanzees. However, since previous studies have already shown that there is a certain point where children rise above the levels of chimpanzee language skills, these future studies need to focus on finding the particular average age in which this further development takes place. This means an ANOVA data analysis study based on a weekly transgression of language development of a relatively large population of growing kids and chimpanzees. With a larger portion being studies on a much more constant basis, researchers should be able to get a more concrete age range of when human children begin to significantly rise above the language skills of chimpanzees based on the complexity of utterances and sentences. This would provide the psychological world a better idea of exactly what age range we branch of from our ape ancestors."
A discussion of the sign and symbol-based language experiments conducted with great apes over the last forty years, including criticisms, findings, and implications. Addresses projects with gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and bonobos.
6,395 words (approx. 25.6 pages), 15 sources, 2002, $ 148.95
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."
Abstract This essay provides an examination of the differences and similarities of humans and chimpanzees, followed by a summary of the research in the conclusion.
From the Paper "According to Charles E. Oxnard (1987), gaining an understanding the human lineage is one of the main problems in studying human evolution; however, many fossil hunters appear to believe that this means that their task is to find the fragments of the precise human ancestor in the field. "Likewise, many laboratory workers seem to believe that this means that their task is showing that a particular fossil remnant is that ancestor. Even in the public mind, studying human evolution seems to be this matter of going from 'missing' to 'found' links" (2001:1). However, the likelihood of finding such a "missing link" are remote, but comparison in the fossil record allow scientists to evaluate the amounts and kinds of morphological differences that have existed among related biological organisms (Oxnard 1987)."
Abstract This paper details Goodall's extensive research into primate behavior, which began in the early 1960s and would continue for many years. This paper reviews Goodall's groundbreaking book, in which the author found many similarities between chimpanzee society and human society. This book delves into how Goodall began her research by fitting into the primate society. This paper discusses the manner in which Goodall personalized her subjects by giving them names and in some ways anthropomorphizing them in her description of their behavior, which runs counter to any scientific study of primate behavior in itself. Goodall's book also delves into how the chimpanzees began to accept the author and researcher as one of their own. Goodall did not write this book as a scientific report but as a popular account of her life in Africa and her interactions with chimpanzees. The writer of this paper explains why author and anthropologist Jane Goodall has become a key figure in the field of primate research.
From the Paper "Goodall found many similarities between chimpanzee society and human society, noting how interesting it is when she finds something that is different about chimp society in the exclusion of the male from familial responsibilities, calling this "perhaps one of the major differences between human and chimpanzee societies, for most human family groups look upon the father not only as the begetter of the children but as the protector, and usually as the provider of food, or land, or money." However, she also notes that at the time, women were demanding more equality so that the role of the males was being questions, though she also says this is only happening in a very small minority of cultures." It is not clear what it would mean if this were more widespread, whether it would reflect something innate in primates that only emerged when society changed, or whether it occurs in chimpanzee society for some similar reason."
From the Paper "The purpose of this paper will be to discuss chimpanzees. The scope of the research will include discussions of the terminology of the species, their behavior, feeding patterns, habitat, tool usage, mental capacity, communication abilities, and societal behavior. Further, the report will include a review of the anthropological studies that have been undertaken of chimpanzees with particular emphasis on Jane Goodall's landmark research, with a quick note related to Mr. Larson's cartoon. Lastly, a brief look of how chimpanzees are viewed on the world market today will be presented.
"Living apes and humans and certain fossil forms belong to the superfamily Hominoidea of the suborder Anthropoidea of the order primates" (Tuttle, 1986, p. 1). 'Anthropoid' means man-like. During the early part of the century the term "ape" was..."
Abstract This paper summarizes the book "The Third Chimpanzee" by Jared Diamond, a book on human evolution both physical and cultural which carries human evolution from the earliest beginnings to the present day.
Abstract This paper presents various opinions, which state that chimpanzees possess very similar intelligence capabilities to humans and that they need to be studied further in order to gage the extent of their skills.
From the Paper "In conclusion, the intelligence of chimpanzees can be demonstrated by addressing five specific conditions. First, language research has shown that chimpanzees can learn to use words and symbols in order to make contact with humans (some can also use numbers quite effectively); second, they have the capacity to create and utilize tools in order to obtain food and in some instances as weapons in aggressive situations; third, chimpanzees are highly skilled at hunting where cooperation between individuals is a necessity; fourth, they are obviously fully aware of their own existence and are capable of playing tricks; and lastly, they are excellent problem-solvers and can use their brain power in cognitive ways, all of which proves that chimpanzees are indeed intelligent which makes them one of the most fascinating creatures on the planet to study and at times revere."
Abstract This paper examines the Bonobo species which is a slightly smaller animal than the chimpanzee. It looks at their habitat, behavior, food sources, as well as their physical features and other relevant factors and elements.
From the Paper "Commonly referred to as Wernicke's, this area of the brain has been linked to what is assumed to be human behaviors in relation to "musical talent, communication disorders, such as the disease of schizophrenia as well as dyslexia. The rarely used left brained language areas are seldom used except in cases previous and in those born deaf making use of sign language. According to Dr. Gannon, he and Dr. Braun discovered, after having received MRI's (magnetic resonance images) of the brains of chimpanzees sent from the Smithsonian Institute, discovered that the left side of the Planum Temporale was larger than that of the right side upon direct inspection to brains of cadavers. The Bonobo or Pan paniscus are closely related to the chimpanzees, or Pan troglodytes. The Bonobo's habitation is the central basin "Cuvette Centrale, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, south of the Congo River. Scientists believe that the two species of the Pan were somehow separated about two and one-half million years ago and the Bonobos since then having developed traits that are specific to their species and is the basis for the difference between the classification of the Bonobo's and the chimpanzees."
This paper discusses that the work of Jane Goodall and others are discovering that primates have a higher degree of intelligence than previously known.
1,235 words (approx. 4.9 pages), 5 sources, 2002, $ 42.95
Abstract This paper discusses recent primate studies that suggest there are more degrees of intelligence and more kinds of intelligence in the animal kingdom than was thought possible. The paper stresses that observing chimpanzees in the wild affords more opportunities to see intelligent behavior than observing them in zoos or other captive environments. The author points out that having learned that chimpanzees in the wild medicate themselves as needed, humans are learning about medications from these chimpanzees.
From the Paper "Jane Goodall has been a key figure in primate studies and helped initiate the ChimpanZoo project to compare behaviors in the wild with behaviors in captivity. Such interdisciplinary studies help researchers understand observed behaviors in both settings. Research in the wild serves to counter many of the stereotypical views of primates that people have developed form only seeing these animals in the zoo, an artificial environment which distorts some behavior."
Abstract The paper provides a literature review on the evolution of language in humans and primates that explores why man is overtly superior to non-Homo sapiens. The paper reveals current findings that have demonstrated that chimpanzees can communicate verbally. The paper proposes a study that will identify brain activities occurring in chimpanzees and localize areas involved in the production of verbal language.
Outline:
Review of Related Literature
Objective of the Proposed Study
Study Design
From the Paper "Numerous studies have been conducted to further understand the unique ability of man to use language as a tool for communication. Common issues have been attempted to answer by developmental scientists and psychologist with regards to the evolution of language in humans and primates (Pinker and Jackendoff, 2004). One of these issues is to discern which components of language are learned from the environment, and which are innate in man and other species. The influence of one's external surroundings - education system, interaction with others, and ability to pick up a new language system - has been dissected. At the same time, the biological and neurological characteristics of man have been investigated to understand why man is overtly superior to non-Homo sapiens. These characteristics innate in man must be contributory to the development of a highly sophisticated language system."
Abstract This essay examines the dilemma in making a decision put before a hypothetical student at McGill University. If the ends always justify the means and personal ambition is a virtue, then one would most certainly take a job that promised one personal rewards and might also, as an added, but not necessary bonus, help the rest of humanity. However this paper looks at this decision from the perspective of the Mahayan Buddhist.
From the Paper "While it is not moral to kill, the Buddhist also recognizes the fact that death is not the end, that in each life all sentient beings inhabit a mortal body that appears in the transient world and is lead through the cycle of death and rebirth to enlightenment. It may be that part of one's mission in a life is to help create medicines that will benefit many others."
From the Paper Many anthropologists find the use of primate studies as a way of understanding human development to be a flawed approach. Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewentin, for instance, question the validity of sociobiology and see it as a case of circular reasoning: "In making this point, Gould and Lewontin see sociobiologists devising their scenarios to create highly simplistic, perfectly adaptive situations--a condtioin rarely (if ever) found in nature" (Turnbaugh, Jurmain, Nelson, and Kilgore, 1996, 196). However, such criticism relates more to how the questions are framed and answered than to the basic question of how valuable primate studies can be in helping our understanding of human behavior and culture. The criticism noted above does show the danger of allowing affective thinking..."
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)."
