Project Nim Summary

Project Nim is a documentary that focuses on attempts to teach Nim the chimpanzee language, specifically sign language. It follows the different environments Nim lived in—some conducive to the project’s goal, and others not. The film focuses on the relationship between Nim and his ‘teachers’ and caretakers, especially his interactions with them as he matured and started expressing more aggressive, chimp-like behavior, despite being raised similar to a human child in many aspects.
In 1973, an infant Nim was taken from his mother and sent to live with the LaFarge family as part of a Columbia University psychology experiment. Herbert Terrace aimed to see if Nim could be conditioned to learn language if he was raised like a human child in a normal, human

LaFarge raised the chimp among her own children, even breastfeeding it at times. While Nim learned basic sign language, his environment was not at all structured, and the family often let him run rampant, giving him both alcohol and marijuana. Nim continued act like a chimpanzee despite being raised as a ‘human child,’ becoming more aggressive as he grew older. Inevitably, intern Laura-Ann Pettito decided that it was not conducive to the project for the family to care for Nim. For several years, Nim was under the care of researchers at the University; however, as he grew older his behavior became more and more aggressive until he was causing serious harm to the researchers. Once Terrace decided that the project should end, Nim was moved to the University of Oklahoma primate facility, where he lived in a cage with other chimps. Research assistant Bob Ingersoll noted that the experience was “distressing” to Nim, and that he kept a close eye on the chimpanzee in order to make sure he was not harassed by the other chimps and was adjusting well. Ingersoll continued to communicate with Nim through sign language in order to ease his transition,