Chimpanzees' Ability to Use Language in a Rudimentary Way

Chimpanzees' Ability to Use Language in a Rudimentary Way

Many researchers wonder if chimpanzees are really able to use language in a rudimentary way, or if it is just created by operant conditioning. Psychologists realized, as far back as 60 years ago, that chimps would never be able to learn spoken language. They do not have the specialized tongue, lips, teeth, facial muscles, and palate that humans do to make the vast array of speech sounds that humans do. Researchers have instead tried to teach chimps some visual form of language.

An example is Beatrice and Allen Gardner's experiment with American Sign Language (ASL). They started their research with a one-year-old chimp named Washoe, whom they raised like a child. The Gardners and their researchers signed to Washoe and one another just like deaf parents might do. Whenever Washoe signed correctly, she was rewarded. Because Washoe was raised amongst her caretakers, she had a lot of practice signing throughout her daily life. After four years of training, she had acquired about 160 signs. The Gardners saw many similarities between Washoe's progress and that of a young child learning spoken language. Once she had learned a certain sign, she appropriately generalized its use to other objects or activities. For example, when she learned the sign for "more" to ask for more tickling, she used it to ask for more food or more play. Many of her mistakes seemed similar to ones children would make. After she had learned eight or so signs, she started using them in combinations, such as "more sweet;" later, she combined three or more signs to make statements or commands. By the age of five, the Gardners thought that her language resembled a three-year-old child's.
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...we should not expect chimps and human children to be cognitively equal. Children have an innate ability to learn language easily and chimps do not; chimps can only do this after long, repetitive training. There are also definite limits to the types of things that a chimp can use language to communicate about.

Other animals do not have the capability to communicate the complicated thoughts that humans do. Even though other animals may have some ability to learn basic features of language, the complex and diverse use of language seems to belong strictly to humans.

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