|
Washoe (around September of 1965[1] - October 30, 2007) was a chimpanzee who was the first non-human to learn American Sign Language. She also passed on her knowledge to three other chimpanzees, Loulis, Tatu and Dar.[2] Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...
Binomial name (Blumenbach, 1775) distribution of Common Chimpanzee. ...
It has been suggested that ASL Grammar be merged into this article or section. ...
Loulis (b. ...
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA. CHCI is a sanctuary for four chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. ...
As part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition, Washoe developed a modest ability to communicate with humans using ASL. She was named for Washoe County, Nevada, where she was raised and taught to use ASL. Washoe had lived at Central Washington University since 1980; on October 31, 2007, officials from the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute on the CWU campus announced that she had died the previous day.[2] In linguistics, animal language acquisition (ALA) refers to controversial claims and experiments which assert, or are otherwised based in a view that non-human animals hold abilities for generating and communicating the symbols of abstract language, though they have not manifest such abilities in nature. ...
Washoe County is a county located in the state of Nevada. ...
Central Washington University, or CWU, is an accredited four-year educational institution located in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States. ...
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, WA. CHCI is a sanctuary for several chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using Ameslan and American Sign Language. ...
Project Washoe In 1967, Allen and Beatrice Gardner established a project to teach Washoe ASL at the University of Nevada, Reno. At the time, previous attempts to teach chimpanzees to imitate vocal languages (the Gua and Vicki projects) had failed. The Gardners believed that these projects were flawed because chimps are physically unable to produce the voiced sounds required for spoken language. Their solution was to utilize the chimpanzee's ability to create diverse body gestures by starting a language project based on American Sign Language. Washoe died on November 1, 2007 at the age of 42. Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ...
The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada or UNR) is a university located in Reno, Nevada, USA, and is known for its programs in agricultural research, animal biotechnology, and mining-related engineering and natural sciences. ...
Vicki (chimpanzee) was raised in parallel with a human infant, to see if she could learn human words. ...
Phoneticians define phonation as use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ...
ASL instruction and usage To teach Washoe signs, the Gardners and their graduate students initially modeled their approach on operant conditioning methods. When Washoe would spontaneously make a gesture that in some way resembled an ASL sign, the scientists would shape the gesture by encouraging and rewarding variations of that gesture until it became a true ASL sign. For example, the sign for MORE is made by bringing ones hands together and touching the fingertips. In the context of tickling, Washoe would naturally bring her arms together to protect herself. Noticing the crude resemblance of this action to the sign for MORE, the Gardners would pull Washoe's arms apart and stop tickling. Washoe then tended to bring her arms together again, at which point the Gardens would reward her with more tickling. Over time, the Gardners required Washoe to be more precise with her arm and hand movements in order to elicit more tickling. Eventually, only the correct ASL would cause the Gardners to continue tickling. After Washoe learned to robustly construct the sign for MORE when being tickled, the Gardners introduced the sign in the context of a game of pulling Washoe around in a laundry basket. According to Roger Fouts, a graduate student of the Gardners, Washoe caught on quickly to the idea that the ASL sign for MORE could be used to get more of anything, including food, games, and books. In this way, the chimpanzee showed the ability to spontaneously generalize an abstract concept such as "MORE" to a variety of contexts in which training had not occurred. Operant conditioning is the use of consequences to modify the occurrence and form of behavior. ...
Roger Fouts (born June 8, 1943) is an American primate researcher. ...
After the first couple of years of the language project, the Gardners and Roger Fouts discovered that Washoe could pick up ASL gestures without operant conditioning methods by observing humans around her that were signing amongst themselves. For example, the scientists signed "Toothbrush" to each other while they brushed their teeth near her. At the time of observation, Washoe showed no signs of having learned the sign, but on a later occasion she reacted to the sight of a toothbrush by spontaneously producing the correct sign, thereby showing that she had in fact previously learned the ASL sign.
In addition to individual signs, Washoe displayed the ability to combine signs in novel and meaningful ways. For example, she referred to her toilet as DIRTY GOOD and the refrigerator as OPEN FOOD DRINK, even though the scientists around her always called them POTTY CHAIR and COLD BOX. Fouts has written that this type of linguistic modification is similar to tool modification of wild chimpanzees.
Confirmed ASL signs It is reported that Washoe could reliably use about 250 signs[2], though the scientific accuracy of this claim is still disputed. For Washoe to be considered "reliable" on a sign, it had to be seen by 3 different observers in 3 separate spontaneous instances in the correct context and used appropriately. Following those observations, it had to be seen 15 days in a row to be added to her sign list. These criteria were applied in the earlier phases of the project.
Other projects and controversy Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker believes that the argument that Washoe is the first non-human to acquire a human language is generally considered without scientific support (see Pinker, 1994).[2] Rendering of human brain Cognitive science is most simply defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ...
Steven Pinker Steven Arthur Pinker (born September 18, 1954) is a prominent Canadian-born American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and popular science writer known for his spirited and wide-ranging advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. ...
A number of projects have sought to establish ASL or other forms of language in other chimpanzees and also in gorillas and bonobos, as well as in non-primate species such as dolphins, and parrots. In particular, the Nim Chimpsky project failed to replicate the results of Washoe with a chimpanzee in a more "classical" experimental setting, leading to a controversy as to which of these projects was conducted in an inadequate way (see the relevant article for more details). Type species Troglodytes gorilla Savage, 1847 distribution of Gorilla Species Gorilla gorilla Gorilla beringei The gorilla, the largest of the living primates, is a ground-dwelling omnivore that inhabits the forests of Africa. ...
For other uses, see Bonobo (disambiguation). ...
Genera See article below. ...
Systematics (but see below) Family Cacatuidae (cockatoos) Subfamily Microglossinae (Palm Cockatoo) Subfamily Calyptorhynchinae (dark cockatoos) Subfamily Cacatuinae (white cockatoos) Family Psittacidae (true parrots) Subfamily Loriinae (lories and lorikeets) Subfamily Psittacinae (typical parrots and allies) Tribe Arini (American psittacines) Tribe Cyclopsitticini (fig parrots) Tribe Micropsittini (pygmy parrots) Tribe Nestorini (kakas and...
Nim Chimpsky (November 21, 1973 – March 10, 2000) was a chimpanzee who was the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition (codenamed 6. ...
Nim Chimpsky (November 21, 1973 – March 10, 2000) was a chimpanzee who was the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition (codenamed 6. ...
Potential and limitation of other species' use of human languages is likely to come from an integration of the results of all these projects, rather than an essentially historical pursuit of what did or did not happen in Project Washoe.[clarify][citation needed] However the Washoe project will remain a milestone in the study of animal cognition, as it was considered by some to be the first success in teaching language to an animal of another species. Animal cognition, or cognitive ethology, is the title given to a modern approach to the mental capacities of animals. ...
See also The term Animal intelligence is currently used in three distinct but overlapping ways: as a synonym for animal cognition, to pose the question “are animals intelligent?â€, or to denote a discussion of relative levels of intelligence in different animal species. ...
Research into non-human great ape language has involved teaching gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans to communicate with human beings and with each other using sign language, physical tokens, and lexigrams; see Yerkish. ...
Roger Fouts (born June 8, 1943) is an American primate researcher. ...
Notes
References - Teaching Sign Language to Chimpanzees. Edited by R. Allen Gardner, Beatrix T. Gardner, Thomas E. Van Cantfort.
- Next of Kin: what chimpanzees have taught me about who we are. written by Roger Fouts. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1997. ISBN 068814862X
- The language instinct: How the mind creates language. Written by Steven Pinker. New York: W. Morrow.
- The Dragons of Edens: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence. Written by Carl Sagan.
External links - Friends of Washoe, a non-profit organization
- Summary of Project Washoe
|
Feeds |
Contact