Washoe (chimpanzee): Difference between revisions

In 1967, R. Allen Gardner and [[Beatrix 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 (chimpanzee)|Gua]] and [[Viki (chimpanzee)|Viki]] projects) had failed. The Gardners believed that these projects were flawed because chimpanzees are physically unable to produce the [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced sounds]] required for oral language. Their solution was to utilize the chimpanzee's ability to communicate throughby gesture, which is how they communicate in the wild, by starting a project based on American Sign Language.<ref>{{cite book|author=Goodall, Jane|title=The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior|publisher=Belknap Press|date=September 1986|isbn=978-0-674-11649-8|url=https://archive.org/details/chimpanzeesofgom00good}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Goodall, Jane|title=My Life with the Chimpanzees|publisher=Aladdin|date=April 1, 1996|edition=Revised|isbn=978-0-671-56271-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mylifewithchimpa00good}}</ref> The Gardners raised Washoe as one would raise a child. She frequently wore clothes and sat with them at the dinner table. Washoe had her own 8-foot-by-24-foot trailer complete with living and cooking areas. The trailer had a couch, drawers, a refrigerator, and a bed with sheets and blankets. She had access to clothing, combs, toys, books, and a toothbrush. Much like a human child, she underwenthad a regular routine with chores, outdoor play, and rides in the family car.<ref>Prof. Mark Kruase, Southern Oregon University, January 20, 2011.</ref> Upon seeing a swan, Washoe signed "water" and "bird". Harvard psychologist [[Roger Brown (psychologist)|Roger Brown]] said that "was like getting an [[SOS|S.O.S.]] from outer space".<ref name="NYTimesObit">{{cite news|last=Carey|first=Benedict|title=Washoe, a Chimp of Many Words, Dies at 42|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/science/01chimp.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 1, 2007}}</ref>

When Washoe was five years old, the Gardners moved ontransitioned to other chimpchimpanzee projects, and returned her to the [[University of Oklahoma]]'s Institute of Primate Studies in [[Norman, Oklahoma|Norman]], Oklahoma, undercared thefor care ofby [[Roger Fouts]] and [[Deborah Fouts]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Animal bodies, human minds: ape, dolphin, and parrot language skills|publisher=Springer|year=2004|isbn=978-0-306-47739-3|pages=87–88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MluTYjQ6qVUC&pg=PA87|author1=Hillix, William A. |author2=Rumbaugh, Duane P. |name-list-style=amp }}</ref>

While with Washoe, the Gardners and Foutses communicated exclusively in ASL, avoiding vocal communication, onwith the assumption that this would create a less confusing learning environment for Washoe. This technique was said to resemble that used when teaching human children language.<ref>{{cite book|author=Orlans, F. Barbara|title=The human use of animals: case studies in ethical choice|chapter=Washoe and Her Successors|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-19-511908-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/humanuseofanimal0000unse/page/140 140–141]|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yBWL1t2b_w0C&pg=PA140|url=https://archive.org/details/humanuseofanimal0000unse/page/140}}</ref>

After the first couple of years of the language project, the Gardners and [[Roger Fouts]] discovered that Washoe could pick uplearn ASL gestures without direct instruction; she learned by observing humans around her who 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 later reacted to the sight of a toothbrush by spontaneously producing the correct sign. Moreover, the Gardners began to realize that rewarding particular signs with food and tickles -- the approachmethod used infor [[operant conditioning]] -- interfered with the learning process. Instead, they set upestablished a conversational environment that evoked communication, without the use of rewards for specific actions.<ref name="gardner-1998">{{cite book|title=The structure of learning from sign stimuli to sign language|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates|year=1998|author1=Gardner, R. A. |author2=Gardner, B. T. |name-list-style=amp }}</ref><ref>Gardner, Gardner, & Cantfort (1989). pp. 19-20.</ref>

These signs were then further tested further using a [[double-blind]] vocabulary test. This test demonstrated 1) "that the chimpanzee subjects could communicate information under conditions in which the only source of information available to a human observer was the signing of the chimpanzee;" 2) "that independent observers agreed with each other;" and 3) "that the chimpanzees used the signs to refer to natural language categories—that the sign DOG could refer to any dog, FLOWER to any flower, SHOE to any shoe."<ref>Gardner, R. A. & Gardner, B. T. (1984). A vocabulary test for chimpanzees. ''[[Journal of Comparative Psychology]]'', 98, pg. 381–404</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=A vocabulary test for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) |last1=Gardner |first1=R. A. |last2=Gardner |first2=B. T. |date=1984|journal=Journal of Comparative Psychology |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=381–404 |doi=10.1037/0735-7036.98.4.381 |pmid=6509904 }}</ref>

Washoe and her matesfellow subjects were allegedly able to combine the hundreds of signs that they learned into novel combinations (that they had never been taught, but rather created themselves) with different meanings. For instance, when Washoe's mate Moja did not know the word for "[[thermos]]", Moja referred to it as a "METAL CUP DRINK." However, Washoe's combinations were open to interpretation. Herbert S. Terrace contended that seeming sign combinations did not stand for a single item but rather represented three individual signs.<ref>{{cite book|title=Animal bodies, human minds: ape, dolphin, and parrot language skills|publisher=Springer|year=2004|isbn=978-0-306-47739-3|pages=71–72|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MluTYjQ6qVUC&pg=PA71|author1=Hillix, William A. |author2=Rumbaugh, Duane P. |name-list-style=amp }}</ref><ref>[[Robert Sapolsky|Sapolsky, Robert M.]] ''Human Behavioral Biology 23:Language''. Stanford University. May 2010</ref> TakingUsing the thermos example, rather than METAL CUP DRINK being a composite meaning thermos, it could be that Washoe was indicating there was an item of metal (METAL), one shaped like a cup (CUP), and that could be drunk out of (DRINK).

Washoe herself lost two children. One baby chimpanzee died of a [[heart defect]] shortlysoon after birth; the other baby, Sequoyah, died of a [[staph infection]] at two months of age.

When Washoe was shown an image of herself in thea mirror, and asked what she was seeing, she replied: "Me, Washoe."<ref>{{cite book|author=Mitchell, Robert W.|chapter=A history of pretense in animals and children|editor-last=Mitchell|editor-first=Robert W.|title=Pretending and imagination in animals and children|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-521-77030-9|page=40|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnycVZXcPrEC&pg=PA40}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="goodall-2010-p113"/> Primate expert [[Jane Goodall]], who has studied and lived with chimpanzees for decades, believes that this might indicate some level of [[self-awareness]].<ref name="goodall-2010-p113">{{Cite book|author=Van Lawick-Goodall, Jane|chapter=The Behavior of Chimpanzees in their Natural Habitat|editor=Cohen, Yehudi|title=Human Adaptation: The Biosocial Background|publisher=Aldine Transaction|year=2010|isbn=978-0-202-36384-4|page=113|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hW1sPY90eeMC&pg=PA113}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Visions of Caliban: On Chimpanzees and People|publisher=University of Georgia Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8203-2206-3|pages=21–22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-CvJnqkHaAYC&pg=PA21|author1=Peterson, Dale |author2=Goodall, Jane |name-list-style=amp }}</ref> Washoe appearedseemed to experience an [[identity crisis]] when she was first introduced to other chimpanzees, seeming shocked to learn that she was not the only chimpanzee. She gradually came to enjoy associating with other chimpanzees.<ref>{{cite book|author=Blum, Deborah|title=The Monkey Wars|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1995|isbn=978-0-19-510109-6|pages=15–16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiEn9kxamE0C&pg=PA15}}</ref>

When new students came to work with Washoe, she would slow down her rate of signing for novice speakers of sign language, which had a humbling effect on many of them.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Fouts, Roger S.|chapter=Foreword|editor=McMillan, Franklin D.|title=Mental Health and Well-Being in Animals|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8138-0489-7|pages=15–17|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxS9FZfv4jMC&pg=PR15}}</ref>

[[File:Roger S. Fouts.jpg|thumb|150px|Roger Fouts delivering Washoe's eulogy.]]

Washoe was movedrelocated to [[Central Washington University]] in 1980. On October 30, 2007, officials from the [[Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute]] on the CWU campus of CWU announced that she had died at the age of 42.<ref name="SeattleTimesObit">{{Cite web|title="Signing" chimp Washoe broke language barrier|date=November 1, 2007|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003986892_washoe01m.html|publisher=The Seattle Times}}</ref><ref name="NYTimesObit"/>

==ImpactEffect on bioethics==

Some believe that the fact that Washoe not only communicated, but also formed close and personal relationships with [[human]]s indicates that she was emotionally sensitive emotionally and deserving of [[moral status of animals|moral status]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Fern, Richard L.|title=Nature, God and humanity: envisioning an ethics of nature|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-521-00970-6|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gJAoyQaavZsC&pg=PA20}}</ref>

Work with Washoe and other signing [[primate]]s motivated the foundationinitiation of the [[Great Ape Project]], which hopes to "include the non-human [[great ape]]s: [[chimpanzee]]s, [[orangutan]]s and [[gorilla]]s within the community of equals by granting them the basic moral and [[International human rights law|legal protections]] that only humans currently enjoy", in order to place them in the moral category of "persons" rather than [[private property]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Guerrini, Anita|title=Experimenting with humans and animals: from Galen to animal rights|publisher=JHU Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8018-7197-9|page=135|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8as-dLk-6N0C&pg=PA135}}</ref>

The publication of the Washoe experiments spurredinitiated a revival inof the scholarly study of sign language, due to widespread interest in questions it raised about the biological rootsbeginning of language.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Kendon, Adam|chapter=Historical Observations on the Relationship Between Research on Sign Languages and Language Origins Theory|editor-last=Stokoe |editor-first=William C. |editor2-last=Armstrong |editor2-first=David F. |display-editors=et al.|title=The study of signed languages: essays in honor of William C. Stokoe|publisher=Gallaudet University Press|year=2002|isbn=978-1-56368-123-3|pages=45–46|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pc-Rcg2-L0UC&pg=PA45}}</ref> This included additional experiments which attempted to teach great apes to communicate in a more controlled environment.

In 1979, after Herbert Terrace and Thomas Bever's [[Nim Chimpsky]] project failed to demonstrate a chimps' ability to use sentences, Terrace criticized Project Washoe as well. DrawingUsing onpublicly publicavailable filmmovie clips of Washoe, Terrace questioned Washoe's proported ability to create novel expressions and statements. He and [[Thomas Sebeok]] argued that the apparently impressive results may have amounted to nothing more than a "[[Clever Hans]]" effect.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wade |first=N. |year=1980 |title=Does man alone have language? Apes reply in riddles, and a horse says neigh |work=Science |volume=208 |pages=1349–1351

Washoe's advocates responded by pointing outdetailing a number of methodologicalprocedural problems with Terrace's Nim study, issues later documented in Elizabeth Hess's ''Nim Chimpsky: The Chimp Who Would Be Human'' and the documentary ''[[Project Nim (film)|Project Nim]]''.