Washoe's legacy: Talking to the relatives
Comments (4)
Friday, November 9, 2007 | 04:44 PM ETBy quirks
By Bob McDonald, host of the CBC science radio program Quirks & Quarks.
Washoe, the first chimpanzee to learn sign language, passed away recently at the age of 42. With a “vocabulary” of between 200 and 250 words, she has been communicating with humans since 1966, and even passed her skills onto other chimps living with her. There is some debate among primatologists about Washoe’s communication skills. Was she actually using language or just imitating her handlers, the way a dog understands signals and words from its owner?
Her handlers say she was definitely communicating and expressing emotion, moods and even a sense of humour. Of course, these conversations were never very deep, Washoe never answered questions about what it’s like to be a chimp, nor commented on the current political situation. Most conversations involved only one or two words at a time, but she was able to assemble her own words to describe objects or events that were new. For example, she used the words “WATER” and “BIRD” the first time she saw a swan; and described a refrigerator as “OPEN FOOD DRINK”.
Other chimps at the Chimpanzee and Humans Communication Institute at Central Washington University used sign language to interact with each other as well as the humans around them, which suggests at least a simple use of language.
Other animals have also been taught non-verbal language. Koko the Gorilla has mastered about 1,000 signs and understands enough words that, if spoken to, she will respond in sign. She also has a pet cat that she has raised from a kitten and given the name “Ball.”
Kanzi, the Bonobo Chimp, uses lexicons, which are symbols representing words and phrases that are displayed on a panel connected to a voice synthesizer. When asked a question, he pushes the appropriate button and the word is spoken - sort of a chimp version of Stephen Hawking with far less profound answers.
You might call these elaborate stupid pet tricks, until you meet one of these animals. I had a chance to see Kanzi in action, and other than being impressed by his ability to identify objects and ask for bananas or to be tickled, I was spooked by the way he looked at me. Chimps are our closest living relatives, sharing 99 per cent of our DNA. So when Kanzi looks at you, it feels like he’s really looking. It doesn’t feel like he’s a guy in a chimp suit - apes are not human. It’s something different and you can definitely tell that there are some wheels turning behind that low brow. It certainly shoots down the old idea of dumb animals
Looking into Kanzi’s dark eyes made me wonder about past times on Earth when there was more than one species of human walking around. Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, one short and stout, the other tall and more modern looking, might have encountered each other in Europe around fifty thousand years ago. How would they have treated each other?
Millions of years before that, different species of Australopithecines wandered around Africa. Did they sense any kinship with their genetic relatives or feel threatened by something different from themselves?
Considering that every Great Ape habitat on Earth is threatened today by human encroachment, and chimps are still hunted for bush meat , you have to wonder.
By the way, Washoe’s age of 42 has an interesting significance. According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything.
- Bob McDonald
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Comments (4)
Neil Fiertel
Although the use of language is found primarily in humans, certain parrots have also been able to learn and use and combine words learned from human handlers. Intelligence is a capability not only found in the chordata. Those who study squid and octopi find that they learn surprisingly fast. Don not forget the porpoises either. Oh yes, my neighbor had a Border Collie who used to come over to my yard and untie my somewhat slower minded Golden Retriever from her kennl..untie FOUR half hitch knots so they can go pal around together. I witnessed this happening on several occasions. We are arrogant in the extreme to think that we alone have intellect. We are merely smarter and more verbal than others of the animal world but we are not really much different after all. It is the Hubris by assorted religions that purport that we are not the same...We are nothing more than smart and manipulative creatures, smarter than all but we use our abilities in often very stupid and destructive ways. Not so smart as we think in other words.
Posted November 12, 2007 04:06 PM
Des Emery
It isn't only radioactive elements that have to acquire a 'critical mass' in order to change their function. That sequence of events occurs in the mineral world. There are similar occurrences in the vegetable world, blooms of algae in the oceans, poisonous in large quantities, harmless in small amounts. Animal life is likewise constricted, dictating specific behaviour in single units, and totally different activity in groups, like army ants or passenger pigeons.
There is no inter-object communication in mineral existence. Trees, under attack by worms, send a signal to other similar trees in the area to produce tougher leaves. Animals are in constant communication with their own and other species and development of brain cells facilitates more and more effective methods to let other individuals know intentions.
Eventually, a brain grows large enough in a specific relationship with body size that another type of 'critical mass' threshold is crossed and we leave animals behind as we become human. Language, both physical and verbal, provides some connections between 'them' and 'us,' connections that will become more and more tenuous and fragile over time.
Posted November 15, 2007 12:16 AM
J Rocky Gray
Why would you be worried about what
Hallowe'en costs Canadians as I see it,Canada has already spent billions
on as program that only benefits a
few within our science community
I we took all the launchs and failures,within Canada and United
States we would have enough money
to feed the world for a hundred
years and what for? Just so we can have some neat pictures and some really expensive moon rocks.
Its amazing the amount of greed that takes place in the name of science,and just think it's all so some egg-head can tell us that Pluto is not a planet any longer
Posted November 26, 2007 12:34 PM
Geekwad
Waterloo
I agree with Neil. Scientists are traditionally concerned with avoiding anthropomorphic thinking towards their subjects. But, they are blind to what both Neil and I would call hubris; the unexamined belief that humans are somehow special. We're not all that special.
Posted December 17, 2007 10:14 AM