Theos-Talk Archives (August 2001 Message tt00252)

Dennis Kier wrote:

> They have taught gorillas and chimpanzees to use sign language to
> express themselves. Some of the Chimps taught it to their offspring
> later on.

Hello Dennis,

It was hoped that this transfer would occur, but after
twenty-odd years of training, there are still no communities of
independently signing primates anywhere. For a while it looked as
though some signs were being passed on to primate infants, but
disappointingly, as time went on, it became obvious that without
continued drilling, the learned association faded and were gradually
lost.

As far as your losing the physical ability to talk - remember that you
still maintain the human ability to organize thought into language - as
you "spoke" through your post.

Here are some observations I put together for another ng regarding
animal "signing" abilities - 

As far as your question goes about conversing with other species - the
problem is, other animals don't have any analogs to language - even
simple language - of their own. Animals "communicate" their states of
mind - anger, fear, threats, appeasement, to one another (within the
same species at least) using facial gesturing, scent and posture. But
animal "communication" resembles human language in only a very
superficial way (use of some sounds), and none has the equivalent of
anything like words - much less symbols for nouns, verbs, or sentences.
Not even simple ones. This would necessarily limit attempts at
"conversation", because ordering symbols into structured thought is how
we humans share ideas or concepts such as who did what to whom and when
or why.

That doesn't mean that they don't understand a remarkable lot. They do,
because they're very smart. They can be taught an amazing number of
things, and if we are very bright, we may learn a small part of what
they know, and can teach us. Remember, discursive or symbolic thought
is only a small part of consciousness. Despite the way it "feels" to us
humans, it's far from the only part. 

Some comments on Koko and sign language in primates...

The question of the validity of the claims made by the Koko project and
others like it have been heavily disputed by the linguistic community,
and by whistle blowers in the primate community itself. I would like to
offer some observations in the interest of equal time. 

To begin with, the apes (including Koko) did NOT "learn American Sign
Language. " This preposterous claim is based on the myth that ASL is a
crude system of pantomimes and gestures rather than a full language with
complex phonology, morphology and syntax. In fact the apes had not
learned *any* true ASL signs.

Before defining the hand gesturing that Koko has been trained to do as
"linguistic ability", "conversing" or "sign language"- please read the
words of the ONLY deaf native signer on one of Washoe's research teams.

"Every time the chimp made a "sign", we were supposed to write it down
in the log...They were always complaining because my log didn't show
enough signs. All the hearing people turned in logs with long lists of
signs. I watched really carefully. The chimp's hands were moving
constantly....I just wasn't seeing any signs. The hearing people were
logging every movement the chimp made as a sign. Every time the chimp
put his finger in his mouth, they'd say "Oh, he's making the sign for
"drink," and they'd give him some milk....When the chimp scratched
itself, they'd record it as the "sign" for "scratch"...When {the chimps}
want something, they reach...{The trainers} would say, "Oh, amazing,
...it's exactly like the ASL sign for "give"." It wasn't."

At best, the apes have been trained to make gestures that their trainers
have agreed to interpret as that of a request for food, drink or
tickling/play - which comprises over 99% of their spontaneous signing
output. They clearly do not get the idea that a particular sign might
refer to a kind of object. To an ape, the sign for TOOTHBRUSH can mean
"toothbrush", "toothpaste", "brushing teeth", "I want my toothbrush", or
"It's time for bed". "Juice can mean "juice" "where juice is usually
kept", or "Take me to where the juice is kept". (When children are
sorting pictures into groups, they know thematic associations, but
ignore these when learning word meanings; to them, a "dax" is a dog or
another dog, NOT a dog OR its bone).

(There is a big difference between making the sign for banana and
knowing 'This means "banana"' and making a gesture because 'If I do
this, she will give me some banana.)'

To arrive at the vocabulary counts, often the same movement is credited
to chimps or apes as different "words", depending on what the observer
thinks is the appropriate word in the context. This has been admitted by
Francine Patterson, Koko's trainer. (Patterson in particular has found
ways to excuse Koko's performance on the grounds that the gorilla is
fond of puns, jokes, metaphors and mischievous lies). 

The primates seldom sign spontaneously (though it is represented as if
they do) but instead have to be molded, drilled , and coerced with
treats. This raises the question of whether they are in fact
demonstrating language or are instead highly trained animal acts. 
Kanzi, the bonobo, is said to use his "graphic symbol" computer for
purposes other than requesting food or play, but at best, only four
percent of the time.

(Some quotes excerpted from Steven Pinker, "The Language Instinct")

best, Michele