Ape, Dolphin, and Parrot Language Skills William A. Hillix and Duane M. Rumbaugh Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects Series editor: Russell H. Tuttle Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2004 FROM THE BACK COVER Animal Bodies, Human Minds: Ape, Dolphin, and Parrot Language Skills is the first work of its kind to treat the history of language research with a broad selection of animals. The volume describes the problems, research, criticisms, and prospects for animal language research. During the last 40 years, scientists have turned their attention to successfully communicating with animals. Most subjects have been human's closest relatives, apes - bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. However, important work has been done with dolphins, parrots, and sea lions and is showcased in this text. Duane M. Rumbaugh has devoted over 30 years to the study of communication between humans and chimpanzees and bonobos, and W.A. Hillix is the author of the classic text, Systems and Theories in Psychology. TABLE OF 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 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 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 Lexigrams 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 10. A Cultural Approach to Language Learning 151 The Language Research Center (LRC) 151 An Overview of Her Work by Dr Sue Savage-Rumbaugh 154 Savage-Rumbaugh's Work: A View from Outside 165 A Skeptical View 166 Methods of Proof 167 Learning to Share 167 Animal- to -Animal Communication 168 Classifying Lexigrams 168 Spontaneous Utterances 169 Apes, Pictures, and TV 169 Studying Spontaneity 170 Application to Human Children 171 The Star Pupils: Kanzi and Panbanisha 173 Bonobos and Chimpanzees 173 Dr Savage-Rumbaugh Presents Her Vision of the Future 184 References 186 11. Chantek the Beautiful 189 A Visit to Chantek at the Atlanta Zoo 191 Chantek as a Person 194 Chantek and American Sign Language 195 Chantek and the Use of Signs for Deception 198 Chantek's Ability to Imitate 198 The Significance of the Chantek Project 199 References 200 12. Ai Project: A Retrospective of 25 Years Research on Chimpanzee Intelligence 201 An Ape-Language Study Begins in Japan 201 Historical Background and Rationales of the Ai Project 202 Focusing on Perceptual and Cognitive Processes rather than Linguistic Skills 205 Field Experiments with Wild Chimpanzees 206 A New Paradigm: Studying Cognitive Development Based on a Triadic Relationship 208 References 209 13. Language Studies with Bottlenosed Dolphins 213 The Dolphin Brain 215 Avoiding the Errors of Earlier Researchers 217 Dolphin Theft: Death and Rebirth of a Project 218 Herman Develops Dolphin Language Training Techniques 219 Rules for Dolphins' Acoustic and Gestural Languages 221 Dolphin Performances with Their Artificial Languages 222 Dolphins know Their Body Parts 224 Dolphins Understand Pointing 224 Evaluating the Dolphin Research 225 Do Signs Refer for Dolphins? 230 Another Indication of Dolphin Self-Awareness 233 Learning Language: Dolphin and Child 233 References 234 14. Alex: One Small Parrot 237 A Visit to the Pepperberg Lab 237 Alex Presents a Conflict 239 Afternoon with Alex 240 Alex's Accomplishments 242 Making Sure Alex is not Responding like Clever Hans 245 Alex's Training 246 Training Parrots versus Training Chimps 247 The Model/Rival Approach 247 Summary 251 Postscript 252 References 252 15. Evaluations of the Ape Language Research 255 Ape Performances and Clever Hans 256 Doubts about Whether Signs, etc., Function as Words 257 Criticisms of the Signing Projects 257 Criticisms of the LexiGram Projects 261 Criticisms of the Premack's Research 265 References 267 16. Where do We Stand and Where Are We Going? 269 The Research Results 269 Applications to Human Language 269 The Implications of the Research Results 271 Animal Intelligence 273 Animal Consciousness 272 Animal Rights 273 The Future of Animal Language Research 274 Exploring Limits on Acquiring Syntax 274 New Ways to Circumvent the Vocal Channel 275 New Approaches to Animal Vocal Language 275 Connecting Natural Animal Communication to Human-designed Language 276 Studying the Cognitive Components of Language in Multiple Species 277 The Multimodal Ape 277 Funding the Multimodal Ape Project 278 References 279 Cast of Characters 281 Human Adults 281 Children 289 Chimpanzees 289 Bonobos 292 Gorillas 293 Orangutans 294 Dolphins 294 Horses 295 Dogs 295 Parrots 296 Sea Lions 296 Index 297 ***************************************************** ISBN: 0306477394 (hardcover) $135.00 USD WHERE TO ORDER: North and South America: Kluwer Academic Publishers Customer Service Department P.O. Box 358, Accord Station Hingham, MA 02018-0358 U.S.A. Tel: (781) 871-6600 Toll Free: (866) 269-9527 Fax: (781) 681-9045 E-mail: kluwer@wkap.com The hours of operation are Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, EST. Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia: Kluwer Academic Publishers Customer Service Department P.O. Box 989 3300 AZ Dordrecht The Netherlands Tel: (+31) 78 657 60 50 Fax: (+31) 78 657 62 54 E-mail: services@wkap.nl The hours of operation are Monday - Friday, CET: 8.30 - 17.00 hrs. Direct link to online catalog entry: http://www.wkap.nl/prod/b/0-306-47739-4 Posted Date: 01/30/04
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