Animal Bodies, Human Minds: Ape, Dolphin, and Parrot Language Skills

316 Pages·2004·9.995 MB·

by  William A. Hillix, Duane M. Rumbaugh (auth.)

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