Great ape language

Efforts to teach non-human primates to communicate with humans

Facial expressions can be used to convey a message.

Research into nonhuman great ape language has, historically, involved teaching chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans to communicate with humans and each other using imitative human speech, sign language, physical tokens and computerized lexigrams. These practices have proven controversial, with debates hinging on what constitutes “language,” the welfare of test subjests, and the anthropocentric nature of this line of inquiry.

Contemporary research has steered away from teaching apes human language and focuses instead on observing apes' intraspecies communication in zoos and natural habitats. This includes gestures, facial expressions, and vocalizations.[1][2][3][4]

## Background

[edit]

Richard Lynch Garner was the first researcher to explore in depth the communication skills of nonhuman primates. He began in 1884 studying monkeys in American zoos and later travelled to Africa to study gorillas and chimpanzees.[5] He wrote frequently for popular journals and newspapers and ultimately had three books published on the subject, The Speech of Monkeys (1892), Gorillas & Chimpanzees (1896), and Apes and Monkeys: Their Life and Language (1900).

Garner argued that nonhuman primates have their own forms of speech. He claimed to be able to talk to the animals and act as their interpreter, claims largely unsupported by evidence. His methods and conclusions were not scientific by any modern definition, but his work was nonetheless significant.[5][6] For one thing, Garner studied the animals' intraspecies vocalizations, in some cases in their natural habitats. He went to great length to do so, even living inside of a cage himself to observe gorillas in Africa. This was in contrast to later language studies, which separated apes from their conspecifics (peers) and placed them in alien — human — habitats. Second, Garner pioneered the use of recording primate vocalizations and playing them back later for experimental purposes.[5][7]

## Use of sign language and visual aids

[edit]

Many researchers have presented evidence of linguistic abilities in nonhuman primates. Many of their conclusions have been disputed.[8][9] It is now generally accepted[a] that apes can learn to use signs and are able to communicate with humans.[10] However, it is disputed as to whether they can form syntax to manipulate such signs.

Great apes can be said to "understand" (receive), and some can "apply" (produce) consistent, appropriate, grammatical messages.

* Chimpanzees[11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
* Bonobos[17][18]
* Gorillas[19]
* Orangutans[20]

Primate language research uses sign language and computer keyboards because non-human primate have less tongue and lower jaw control[21] and their vocal cords cannot close fully.[22][23] However, primates do possess the manual dexterity required for keyboard use.

### Washoe

[edit]

Main article: Washoe (chimpanzee)

Washoe, a common chimpanzee, was caught in the wild in 1966. When she was about ten months old, she was received by the husband-and-wife research team of Beatrix T. Gardner and Robert Allen Gardner.[24] Chimpanzees are completely dependent until two years of age and semi-dependent until the age of four. Full adult growth is reached between 12 and 16 years of age. Accordingly, the Gardners received her at an appropriate age for research into language development. The Gardners tried to make Washoe's environment as similar as possible to what a human infant with deaf parents would experience. There was always a researcher or assistant in attendance during Washoe's waking hours. Every researcher communicated with Washoe by using American Sign Language (ASL), minimizing the use of the spoken voice. The researchers acted as friends and companions to Washoe, using various games to make the learning as exciting as possible.

The Gardners used many different training methods:

* Imitation: After Washoe had learned a couple of words, she started, like chimpanzees usually do, to imitate naturally. For example, when she entered the Gardners' bathroom, she spontaneously made the sign for "toothbrush", simply because she saw one.
* Babbling: In this case, "babbling" does not mean vocal babbling. Instead, Washoe used untaught signs to express a desire. She used a begging gesture, which was not much different from the ASL signs "give me" and "come". (Human infants who are learning sign language often babble with their hands.)
* Instrumental conditioning: The researchers used instrumental conditioning strategies with Washoe. For example, they taught the word "more" by using tickling as a reward. This technique was later applied to a variety of relevant situations.

The results of the Gardners' efforts were as follows:

* Vocabulary: When a sign was reported by three independent observers, it was added to a checklist. The sign had to occur in an appropriate context and without prompting. The checklist was used to record the frequency of a sign. A sign had to be used at least once a day for 15 consecutive days before it was deemed to have been acquired. Alternatively, a sign had to be used at least 15 days out of 30 consecutive days. By the end of the 22nd month of the project, thirty-four signs had been learned.
* Differentiation: Washoe used the sign "more" in many different situations until a more specific sign had been learned. At one point, she used the sign for "flower" to express the idea of "smell". After additional training, Washoe was eventually able to differentiate between "smell" and "flower".
* Transfer: Although the same object was presented for each learning trial (a specific hat, for example), Washoe was able to use the sign for other similar objects (e.g. other hats).
* Combinations: Washoe was able to combine two or three signs in an original way. For example, "open food drink" meant "open the fridge" and "please open hurry" meant "please open it quickly".

Washoe also taught other chimpanzees, such as Loulis, some ASL signs without any help from humans.

### Nim Chimpsky

[edit]

Main article: Nim Chimpsky

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Linguistic critics challenged the animal trainers to demonstrate that Washoe was actually using language and not isolated symbols. The null hypothesis was that the Gardners were using operant conditioning to teach the chimpanzee to use hand formations in certain contexts to create desirable outcomes, and that they had not learned the same linguistic rules that humans innately learn.[25][26][27]

In response to this challenge, the chimpanzee Nim Chimpsky (whose name is a play on linguist Noam Chomsky) was taught to communicate using sign language in studies led by Herbert S. Terrace, documented in his 1987 book.

Nim was taken from his mother at a young age by Terrace and put into a household of hippie-like people who had no background with sign language, nor did they use it. Nim was treated as more of a house pet than a wild animal. During his time in the house, Nim's family gave him access to both illegal and legal psychoactive substances, such as marijuana and alcohol, and did not think twice about letting him use them. Nim's experience did not begin as an observational exercise; there were no log books kept at this point in his life.

It was not until Nim was introduced to Laura-Ann Petitto that he began his journey to learning sign language. To no one's surprise, Nim was almost unresponsive to sign language and inactive in using it himself unless he was rewarded for it. With many observers and trainers guiding Nim in his learning of sign language, the observations gave clear insight into the true outcome. The trainers noted that Nim had made over 20,000 sequences, only for Terrace to disprove that by noticing that Nim was merely repeating signs done by his trainers. This observation had Terrace believing that, in total, Nim knew about 125 signs.

After years as a test subject, Nim became aggressive and extremely dangerous to those around him. He would attack the researchers, sending some of them to the hospital. He bit Pettito several times, which in one instance, led to her having to get 37 stitches, and he nearly tore off another woman's cheek. In his later years, Nim was housed at a Texas ranch supported by the Fund for Animals, where he had access to the interior of the house and, during one incident, smashed to death a small household poodle that barked at him.

Overall, the experiment done on Nim produced little useful information. Through all of the tests it is seen that Nim merely copied the signs shown to him. This experiment also showed that non-human primates are able to memorize the outcome of certain practices and, if they enjoy what they get from one, are more likely to replicate it, because of the reward. Though the project produced few meaningful results, scientists determined that non-human primates mimic what they see and memorize different practices' outcomes, and also that they have a higher likelihood of becoming dangerously aggressive when taken out of their natural habitat at a young age.[28]

### Koko

[edit]

Main article: Koko (gorilla)

Francine "Penny" Patterson, a student of the Gardners, in 1972 began an ongoing program to teach ASL to a lowlands gorilla named Koko. Unlike the Gardners she did not limit her English speech around Koko, and as a result Koko was reported to understand approximately 1,000 ASL signs and 2,000 English words. Her results were similar to the Gardners' results with chimpanzees; although the gorilla learned a large number of signs, she never understood grammar or symbolic speech, and did not display any cognition beyond that of a 2–3 year old human child.[29]

Approximately 72 hours of video were taken recording Koko's interactions and learning behaviors. While Koko's ability to successfully produce language has been argued among researchers, behaviors that appear to mimic speech, such as breathing heavily into a telephone or other learned physical gestures have been labeled as intentional but ultimately not communicative. From a biological standpoint, non-human primates lack the correct anatomy necessary to produce the same audible speech found in humans; however vocalizations, gestures, and expressions remain a common form used to communicate in the natural world. Koko learned and was taught to compensate for this by creating cues to emulate sounds replicating speech and through her use of visual indicators.[30]

## Plastic tokens

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Sarah and two other chimpanzees, Elizabeth and Peony, in the research programs of David Premack, demonstrated the ability to produce grammatical messages of token selections. The selections came from a vocabulary of several dozen plastic tokens; it took each of the chimpanzees hundreds of trials to reliably associate a token with a referent, such as an apple or banana. The tokens were chosen to be completely different in appearance from the referents. After learning these protocols, Sarah was then able to associate other tokens with consistent behaviors, such as negation, name-of, and if-then. The plastic tokens were placed on a magnetic slate, within a rectangular frame in a line. The tokens had to be selected and placed in a consistent order (a grammar) in order for the trainers to reward the chimpanzees.

One other chimpanzee, Gussie, was trained along with Sarah but failed to learn a single word. Other chimpanzees in the projects were not trained in the use of the tokens. All nine of the chimpanzees could understand gestures, such as supplication when asking for food; similarly, all nine could point to indicate some object, a gesture which is not seen in the wild. The supplication is seen in the wild, as a form of communication with other chimpanzees.[31]

A juvenile Sumatran orangutan Aazk (named after the American Association of Zookeepers) who lived at the Roeding Park Zoo (Fresno, California) was taught by Gary L. Shapiro from 1973 to 1975 how to "read & write" with plastic children's letters, following the training techniques of David Premack. The technique of conditional discrimination was used such that the orangutan could eventually distinguish plastic letter (symbols) as representations of referents (e.g., object, actions) and "read" an increasingly longer series of symbols to obtain a referent (e.g., fruit) or "write" an increasingly longer series of symbols to request or describe a referent. While no claim of linguistic competence was made, Aazk's performance demonstrated design features of language, many similar to those demonstrated by Premack's chimpanzee, Sarah.

### Kanzi

[edit]

Main article: Kanzi

Kanzi has learned hundreds of arbitrary symbols representing words, objects, and familiar people (including the generic "Visitor").

Kanzi, a bonobo, learned to communicate with a lexigram board at first by eavesdropping on the lessons researcher Sue Savage-Rumbaugh was giving to his adoptive mother. Kanzi used the lexigram board by pushing symbols that stand for words. The board was wired to a computer and symbols were vocalized out loud once pressed.

One day, Rumbaugh used the computer to say to Kanzi, "Can you make the dog bite the snake?" It is believed Kanzi had never heard this sentence before. In answering the question, Kanzi searched among the objects present until he found a toy dog and a toy snake, put the snake in the dog's mouth, and used his thumb and finger to close the dog's mouth over the snake. In 2001, Alexander Fiske-Harrison, writing in the Financial Times, observed that Kanzi was "asked by an invisible interrogator through head-phones (to avoid cueing) to identify 35 different items in 180 trials. His success rate was 93 percent."[32] In further testing, beginning when he was 7+1⁄2 years old, Kanzi was asked 416 complex questions, responding correctly over 74% of the time. Kanzi has been observed verbalizing a meaningful noun to his sister.[33]

Kanzi relies highly on the lexigrams for communication, and frequently uses them to specify where he wants to go, or an item he wants to have. He does this by expressing his goal (location or object) first, and his action (go, chase, carry, give, etc.) last. This notified researchers that Kanzi's way of communicating was different from that of spoken English, especially because Kanzi would communicate many of his action words using simple gestures. In addition, Kanzi is frequently seen linking two action words together using the lexigrams, like "I Tickle", "Chase Hide", or "Chase Bite". These word combinations are not necessarily structured in a way that humans would use spoken English, but they closely resemble lists, consisting of preferred actions, in preferred order of Kanzi's social play. Because of this inconsistency of Kanzi's use of language with the spoken English language, many question whether Kanzi's understanding of English "crosses the boundary with true language".[34]

There is still evidence of certain apes, such as Kanzi the Bonobo, understanding crucial aspects of human language such as grammar, extensive vocabulary and reversible sentences.[35]

## Attempts to mimic human speech and communication

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Main article: Talking animal

Great apes mimicking human speech is rare although some have attempted to do so, and Viki, a chimpanzee, is one of them. During the 1940s and 1950s, Keith and Catherine Hayes of the Yerkes Laboratories of Primate Biology began working with a chimpanzee named Viki in an attempt to get her to mimic human speech. After undergoing months of speech therapy, Viki became their success story. Viki learned to say the words: "mama", "papa", "cup" and "up".[36] Over the years she learned to say up to seven words. Viki was extremely intelligent and like many other non-human primates, would lead people to where she wanted to go as well as move the hands of people onto objects she wanted them to manipulate. However, she would rarely point to objects that she wanted; instead she would use signs to indicate what she wanted to do. For example, when she wanted to help with ironing she would move her hand back and forth above the ironing board. This experiment with Viki would inspire other researchers to conduct similar experiments.[34]

## Question asking

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Despite their impressive (although still sometimes disputed) achievements, Kanzi and other apes who participated in similar experiments, failed to ask questions themselves. Joseph Jordania suggested that the ability to ask questions is probably the central cognitive element that distinguishes human and animal cognitive abilities.[37] (However, a parrot named Alex was apparently able to ask simple questions. He asked what color he was, and learned "grey" after being told the answer six times.[38]) Enculturated apes, who underwent extensive language training programs, successfully learned to answer quite complex questions and requests (including question words "who", "what", "when", "where", and "why"), although so far they failed to learn how to ask questions themselves. For example, David and Anne Premack wrote: "Though she [Sarah] understood the question, she did not herself ask any questions – unlike the child who asks interminable questions, such as What that? Who making noise? When Daddy come home? Me go Granny's house? Where puppy? Sarah never delayed the departure of her trainer after her lessons by asking where the trainer was going, when she was returning, or anything else".[39] The ability to ask questions is sometimes assessed in relation to comprehension of syntactic structures. Jordania suggested that this approach is not justified, as (1) questioning is primarily a cognitive ability, and (2) questions can be asked without the use of syntactic structures (with the use of specific intonation only). It is widely accepted that the first questions are asked by humans during their early infancy, at the pre-syntactic, one word stage of language development, with the use of question intonation.[40]

## Criticisms of 1970s language research

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Some scientists, including MIT linguist Noam Chomsky and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, are skeptical about claims made for great ape language research.[41][42] Among the reasons for skepticism are the differences in ease with which human beings and apes can learn language; there are also questions of whether there is a clear beginning and end to the signed gestures and whether the apes actually understand language or are simply doing a clever trick for a reward.

While vocabulary words from American Sign Language are used to train the apes, native users of ASL may note that mere knowledge of ASL's vocabulary does not equate to knowledge of ASL.

## Contempotary Research

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Among primates, autonomous behaviors such as body posture, facial expressions, vocalizations and scent production have been observed to convey information to other animals, revealing emotions or alerts about potential danger. Affiliative behaviors like grooming are used to promote group cohesion and individual status, while displays of aggression create divisions among groups.[43] Humans, by contrast, have developed a reliance on verbal language. Primatologist Tetsuro Matsuzawa proposes in his cognitive tradeoff hypothesis that humans exchanged short-term and working memory for better language skills over their evolution.[44]

## See also

[edit]

* Alex (parrot)
* Animal cognition
* Animal communication
* Animal language
* Animal training
* Biosemiotics
* Cognitive tradeoff hypothesis
* Human-animal communication
* Language – as it pertains to humans
* Language acquisition
* Operant conditioning
* Origin of language
* Primate cognition
* Proto-language (glottogony)
* Theory of mind
* Yerkish

### Researchers

[edit]

* Roger Fouts
* Francine Patterson
* David Premack
* Sue Savage-Rumbaugh

### Research subjects

[edit]

* Ai (chimpanzee)
* Chantek (orangutan)
* Kanzi (bonobo)
* Lana (chimpanzee)
* Koko (gorilla)
* Lucy (chimpanzee)
* Nim Chimpsky (chimpanzee)
* Panbanisha (bonobo)
* Sarah (chimpanzee)
* Washoe (chimpanzee)
* Viki (chimpanzee)

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ See sign language#History

1. ^ Amici, Federica; Liebal, Katja (1 April 2023). "Testing Hypotheses for the Emergence of Gestural Communication in Great and Small Apes (Pan troglodytes, Pongo abelii, Symphalangus syndactylus)". International Journal of Primatology. 44 (2): 319–340. doi:10.1007/s10764-022-00342-7. ISSN 1573-8604.
2. ^ Amici, Federica; Liebal, Katja (26 September 2022). "The social dynamics of complex gestural communication in great and lesser apes ( Pan troglodytes , Pongo abelii, Symphalangus syndactylus )". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 377 (1860). doi:10.1098/rstb.2021.0299. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 9358312. PMID 35934967.
3. ^ Fröhlich, Marlen; Wittig, Roman M.; Pika, Simone (1 May 2016). "Should I stay or should I go? Initiation of joint travel in mother–infant dyads of two chimpanzee communities in the wild". Animal Cognition. 19 (3): 483–500. doi:10.1007/s10071-015-0948-z. ISSN 1435-9456. PMC 4824811. PMID 26833496.
4. ^ Hobaiter, Catherine; Byrne, Richard W. (1 September 2011). "The gestural repertoire of the wild chimpanzee". Animal Cognition. 14 (5): 745–767. doi:10.1007/s10071-011-0409-2. hdl:10023/4445. ISSN 1435-9456. PMID 21533821. S2CID 13793972.
5. ^ a b c Herzfeld, Chris (2017). The Great Apes: A Short History (English translation of 2012 original French ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300221374.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
6. ^ Yerkes, Robert M. (1925). Almost Human. New York and London: The Century Co.
7. ^ Radick, Gregory (2007). The Simian Tongue: The Long Debate about Animal Language. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226835945.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
8. ^ "Animal Communication". Department of Linguistics, The Ohio State University. 1994. Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
9. ^ Wallman, Joel (1992). Aping Language. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-40666-6.
10. ^ Bauman, Dirksen (2008). Open your eyes: Deaf studies talking. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-4619-7.
11. ^ Plooij, F.X. (1978) "Some basic traits of language in wild chimpanzees?" in A. Lock (ed.) Action, Gesture and Symbol New York: Academic Press.
12. ^ Nishida, T. (1968) "The social group of wild chimpanzees in the Mahali Mountains". Primates 9, 167–224
13. ^ Premack, D. (1985) "'Gavagai!' or the future of the animal language controversy". Cognition 19, 207-296
14. ^ Gardner, R.A. and Gardner, B.T. (1969), "Teaching Sign Language to a Chimpanzee", Science 165, 664–672.
15. ^ Gardner, R.A., Gardner, B.T., and Van Cantfort, T.E. (1989), Teaching Sign Language to Chimpanzees, Albany: SUNY Press.
16. ^ Terrace, H.S. (1979). Nim: A chimpanzee who learned Sign Language New York: Knopf.
17. ^ a b Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S, Rumbaugh, D.M., McDonald, K. (1985). "Language learning in two species of apes". Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 9, 653–665.
18. ^ Savage-Rumbaugh, E.S., McDonald, K, Sevcik, R.A., Hopkins, W.D., and Rupert E. (1986). "Spontaneous symbol acquisition and communicative use by pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus)". Journal of Experimental Psychology:General 115, 211–235.
19. ^ Patterson, F.G. and Linden E. (1981), The education of Koko, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
20. ^ Miles, H.L. (1990) "The cognitive foundations for reference in a signing orangutan" in S.T. Parker and K.R. Gibson (eds.) "Language" and intelligence in monkeys and apes: Comparative Developmental Perspectives. Cambridge Univ. Press. pp.511–539.
21. ^ Bolles, Edmund Blair (1 October 2006). "The Human FOXP2 Gene". Babel's Dawn.
22. ^ Beard, Robert. "Can Chimpanzees Talk?". Dr. Goodword's Office. AlphaDictionary.com.
23. ^ Falk, Dean (July 1975). "Comparative Anatomy of the Larynx in Man and the Chimpanzee: Implications for Language in Neanderthal" (PDF). American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 43 (1): 123–132. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330430116. hdl:2027.42/37553. PMID 1098478.
24. ^ "Meet the Family – Washoe's Biography". Friends of Washoe. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
25. ^ Petitto, Laura A.; Seidenberg, Mark S. (1 September 1979). "On the evidence for linguistic abilities in signing apes". Brain and Language. 8 (2): 162–183. doi:10.1016/0093-934X(79)90047-6. ISSN 0093-934X. PMID 487067. S2CID 39620186.
26. ^ Pepperberg, Irene M. (1 February 2017). "Animal language studies: What happened?". Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 24 (1): 181–185. doi:10.3758/s13423-016-1101-y. ISSN 1531-5320. PMID 27368639.
27. ^ Neisser, Arden (1990). The Other Side of Silence: Sign Language and the Deaf Community in America. Gallaudet University Press. ISBN 9780930323646.
28. ^ "Language Log » Nim: the unproject". Retrieved 13 November 2019.
29. ^ Ristau, Carolyn A.; Robbins, Donald (1 January 1982), Rosenblatt, Jay S.; Hinde, Robert A.; Beer, Colin; Busnel, Marie-Claire (eds.), Language in the Great Apes: A Critical Review, Advances in the Study of Behavior, vol. 12, Academic Press, pp. 141–255, doi:10.1016/s0065-3454(08)60048-0, ISBN 9780120045129
30. ^ Perlman, Marcus; Clark, Nathaniel (July 2015). "Learned vocal and breathing behavior in an enculturated gorilla". Animal Cognition. 18 (5): 1165–1179. doi:10.1007/s10071-015-0889-6. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-002B-870F-C. PMID 26139343. S2CID 13689291. ProQuest 1705400699 EBSCOhost 108998387.
31. ^ Premack and Premack, The mind of an ape.
32. ^ Fiske-Harrison, Alexander 'Talking With Apes', Financial Times, Weekend, 24–25 November 2001
33. ^ Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, Smithsonian magazine, November 2006
34. ^ a b Marler, Peter (June 1999). "How Much Does a Human Environment Humanize a Chimp?". American Anthropologist. 101 (2): 432–436. doi:10.1525/aa.1999.101.2.432. JSTOR 683228. ProQuest 198206524.
35. ^ Schoenemann, P. Thomas (21 July 2022). "Evidence of Grammatical Knowledge in Apes: An Analysis of Kanzi's Performance on Reversible Sentences". Frontiers in Psychology. 13. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.885605. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 9355523. PMID 35936253.
36. ^ Ekström, Axel G. (February 2023). "Viki's First Words: A Comparative Phonetics Case Study". International Journal of Primatology. 44 (2): 249–253. doi:10.1007/s10764-023-00350-1. S2CID 257046483.
37. ^ Jordania, Joseph (2006). Who Asked the First Question? The Origins of Human Choral Singing, Intelligence, Language and Speech. Tbilisi: Logos. ISBN 978-99940-31-81-8.
38. ^ Wise, Steven M. (2002). Drawing the Line. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. p. 107\. ISBN 978-0-7382-0340-9.
39. ^ Premack, David; Premack, Ann J. (1983). The mind of an ape. New York, London: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 29.
40. ^ Crystal, David (1987). The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge. Pg. 241, 143: Cambridge University. ISBN 9780521424431.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location (link)
41. ^ "On the Myth of Ape Language". 2007–2008. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
42. ^ Pinker, Steven (2004). "The Language Instinct" (PDF). Retrieved 24 March 2011.
43. ^ Lewis, Barry (2012). Understanding Humans: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology 11th Edition. Cengage Learning. p. 152\. ISBN 978-1111831776.
44. ^ {Matsuzawa, Tetsuro. (2007). Comparative Cognitive Development. Developmental Science, 10(1), 97–103.}

## References

[edit]

* Vauclair, Jacques (1996). Animal Cognition: an introduction to Modern Comparative Psychology. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03703-8.
* Hillix, W.A.; Rumbaugh, Duane (2013) [2004]. Animal Bodies, Human Minds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. ISBN 978-1441934000.
* Premack, David (2015). Intelligence in Ape and Men. Psychology Revivals. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-1848722644.

## External links

[edit]

* GaTech.edu Archived 7 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine – "Animal Communication" (from the book Language Files, Sixth Edition), editors: Stefanie Jannedy, Robert Poletto, Tracey L. Weldon, Department of Linguistics Ohio State University (1994)
* Great Ape Trust \- "Use of Human Languages by Captive Great Apes" from the book World Atlas of Great Apes and Their Conservation by Duane Rumbaugh, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and William Fields (2005)
* Thailand tree apes use song as warning
* Orangutans mime to get message across
* Books by Richard Garner: The Speech of Monkeys (1892), Gorillas & Chimpanzees (1896), and Apes and Monkeys: Their Life and Language (1900).

* v
* t
* e

Great ape language

Languages taught
to non-human apes|

* American Sign Language
* Yerkish

Non-human apes
taught
simple languages|

| Bonobos|

* Kanzi
* Nyota
* Panbanisha

|

Chimpanzees|

* Lana
* Loulis
* Lucy
* Nim Chimpsky
* Sarah
* Viki
* Washoe

Gorillas|

* Koko
* Michael
* Ndume

Orangutans|

* Azy
* Chantek

Researchers|

* Francine Patterson
* Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
* Maurice K. Temerlin
* Roger Fouts
* Tetsuro Matsuzawa
* William M. Fields

Research centers|

* Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
* Elgin Center
* Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary
* The Gorilla Foundation

Media|

* Koko: A Talking Gorilla (1978 film)
* The Mind of an Ape (1983 book)
* Next of Kin (1997 book)
* Project Nim (2011 film)

Related|

* Animal language
* Animal communication
* Primate cognition
* Animal cognition
* Human–animal communication

* v
* t
* e

Apes

Extant
ape species|

* Homo
* Human (H. sapiens)
* Pan
* Bonobo (P. paniscus)
* Chimpanzee (P. troglodytes)
* Gorilla
* Eastern gorilla (G. beringei)
* Western gorilla (G. gorilla)
* Orangutan
* Sumatran orangutan (P. abelii)
* Bornean orangutan (P. pygmaeus)
* Tapanuli orangutan (P. tapanuliensis)
* Gibbon (family: Hylobatidae)

Study of apes|

* Great ape language
* Dian Fossey
* Birutė Galdikas
* Jane Goodall
* Chimpanzee genome project
* Human Genome Project
* Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
* Neanderthal genome project
* Willie Smits
* Lone Drøscher Nielsen
* Ian Redmond
* Elgin Center
* Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary
* Borneo Orangutan Survival
* Primate archaeology

Legal and
social status|

* Personhood
* Research ban
* Kinshasa Declaration on Great Apes
* Great Ape Project
* Great Apes Survival Partnership
* International Primate Day
* Nonhuman Rights Project

Related|

* Primate
* List of individual apes (non-human)
* Apes in space (non-human)
* Bigfoot
* Bushmeat
* Chimpanzee–human last common ancestor
* Gorilla–human last common ancestor
* Orangutan–human last common ancestor
* Gibbon–human last common ancestor
* List of fictional primates (non-human)
* Great apes
* Human evolution
* Monkey Day
* Mythic humanoids
* Yeren
* Yeti
* Yowie

* Category

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Animal communication

Concepts|

* Animal training
* Animal language
* Animal cognition
* Anecdotal cognitivism
* Bioacoustics
* Deception in animals
* Ethology
* Evolutionary linguistics
* FOXP2
* FOXP2 and human evolution
* Human–animal communication
* Mating call
* Origin of language
* Seismic communication
* Self-anointing in animals
* Talking animals

Animal-specific|

* Aquatic animals
* Whale vocalization
* Bees
* Bumblebees
* Birds
* Talking birds
* Cats
* Dogs
* Elephants
* Frogs
* Great ape language
* Yerkish
* Insects
* Lizards
* Wolves

Related|

* Roar
* Category:Talking birds
* Category:Individual apes involved in language studies

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Evolutionary psychology

* History
* Evolutionary thought
* Theoretical foundations
* Adaptationism
* Cognitive revolution
* Cognitivism
* Gene selection theory
* Modern synthesis
* Criticism

Evolutionary
processes|

* Adaptations
* Altruism
* Cheating
* Hamiltonian spite
* Reciprocal
* Baldwin effect
* By-products
* Evolutionarily stable strategy
* Exaptation
* Fitness
* Inclusive
* Kin selection
* Mismatch
* Natural selection
* Parental investment
* Parent–offspring conflict
* Sexual selection
* Costly signaling
* Male/female intrasexual competition
* Mate choice
* Sexual dimorphism
* Social selection

Areas|

| Cognition /
Emotion|

* Affect
* Display
* Display rules
* Facial expression
* Behavioral modernity
* Cognitive module/modularity of mind
* Automatic and controlled processes
* Computational theory of mind
* Domain generality
* Domain specificity
* Dual process theory
* Cognitive tradeoff hypothesis
* Evolution of the brain
* Evolution of nervous systems
* Fight-or-flight response
* Arachnophobia
* Basophobia
* Ophidiophobia
* Folk biology/taxonomy
* Folk psychology/theory of mind
* Intelligence
* Flynn effect
* Wason selection task
* Motor control/skill
* Multitasking
* Sleep
* Visual perception
* Color vision
* Eye
* Naïve physics

|

Culture|

* Aesthetics
* Literary criticism
* Musicology
* Anthropology
* Biological
* Crime
* Language
* Origin
* Psychology
* Speech
* Morality
* Moral foundations
* Religion
* Origin
* Universals

Development|

* Attachment
* Bonding
* Affectional/maternal/paternal bond
* Caregiver deprivation
* Childhood attachment
* Cinderella effect
* Cognitive development
* Education
* Language acquisition
* Personality development
* Socialization

Human factors /
Mental health|

* Cognitive ergonomics
* Computer-mediated communication
* Engineering psychology
* Human–computer interaction
* Media naturalness theory
* Neuroergonomics
* Depression
* Digital media use and mental health
* Hypophobia
* Imprinted brain hypothesis
* Mind-blindness
* Psychological effects of Internet use
* Rank theory of depression
* Schizophrenia
* Screen time
* Smartphones and pedestrian safety
* Social aspects of television
* Societal impacts of cars
* Distracted driving
* Lead–crime hypothesis
* Mobile phones and driving safety
* Texting while driving

Sex|

* Activity
* Adult attachment
* Age disparity
* Arousal
* Concealed ovulation
* Coolidge effect
* Desire
* Fantasy
* Hormonal motivation
* Jealousy
* Mate guarding
* Mating preferences
* Mating strategies
* Orientation
* Ovulatory shift hypothesis
* Pair bond
* Physical/Sexual attraction
* Sexuality/male/female
* Sexy son hypothesis
* Westermarck effect

Sex differences|

* Aggression
* Autism
* Cognition
* Crime
* Division of labour
* Emotional intelligence
* Empathising–systemising theory
* Gender role
* Intelligence
* Memory
* Mental health
* Narcissism
* Neuroscience
* Schizophrenia
* Substance abuse
* Suicide
* Variability hypothesis

Related subjects|

| Academic disciplines|

* Behavioral/evolutionary economics
* Behavioral epigenetics/genetics
* Affective/behavioral/cognitive/evolutionary neuroscience
* Biocultural anthropology
* Biological psychiatry
* Cognitive psychology
* Cognitive science
* Ethology
* Evolutionary biology
* Evolutionary medicine
* Functional psychology
* Neuropsychology
* Philosophy of mind
* Population genetics
* Primatology
* Sociobiology

|

Research topics|

* Cultural evolution
* Evolutionary epistemology
* Great ape language
* Human–animal communication
* Missing heritability problem
* Primate cognition
* Unit of selection
* Coevolution
* Cultural group selection
* Dual inheritance theory
* Fisher's principle
* Group selection
* Hologenome theory
* Lamarckism
* Population
* Punctuated equilibrium
* Recent human evolution
* Species
* Species complex
* Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance
* Trivers–Willard hypothesis

Theoretical positions|

* Cultural selection theory
* Determinism/indeterminism
* Biological determinism
* Connectionism
* Cultural determinism
* Environmental determinism
* Nature versus nurture
* Psychological nativism
* Social constructionism
* Social determinism
* Standard social science model
* Functionalism
* Memetics
* Multilineal evolution
* Neo-Darwinism
* Neoevolutionism
* Sociocultural evolution
* Unilineal evolution

* Evolutionary psychologists
* Evolutionary psychology
* Psychology portal
* Evolutionary biology portal

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