Apes and Language
Apes and Language:
A Chicago Style Sample Paper
Karen Shaw
English 214
Professor Bell
March 22, 2001
Shaw 2
Apes and Language: A Literature Review
Over the past thirty years, researchers have demonstrated that the great apes
(chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans) resemble humans in language abilities more than had been thought possible. Just how far that resemblance extends, however, has been a matter of some controversy. Researchers agree that the apes have acquired fairly large vocabularies in
American Sign Language and in artificial languages, but they have drawn quite different conclusions in addressing the following questions:
1. How spontaneously have apes used language?
2. How creatively have apes used language?
3. Can apes create sentences?
4. What are the implications of the ape language studies?
This review of the literature on apes and language focuses on these four questions.
How Spontaneously Have Apes Used Language?
In an influential article, Terrace, Petitto, Sanders, and Bever argued that the apes in the language experiments were not using language spontaneously but were merely imitating their trainers, responding to conscious or unconscious cues. Terrace and his colleagues at Columbia
University had trained a chimpanzee, Nim, in American Sign Language, so their skepticism about the apes’ abilities received much attention. In fact, funding for ape language research was sharply reduced following publication of their 1979 article, “Can an Ape Create a Sentence?”1
1. Haley Terrace et al., "Can an Ape Create a Sentence?" Science 206 (1979): 894.
Shaw 3
In retrospect, the conclusions of Terrace and others seem to have been premature.
Although some early ape language studies had not been rigorously controlled to eliminate cuing,
R. A. Gardner and B. T. Gardner were conducting double-blind experiments that prevented any possibility of cuing as early as the 1970s.2 Since 1979, researchers have diligently guarded against cuing. For example, Rosh
A Chicago Style Sample Paper
Karen Shaw
English 214
Professor Bell
March 22, 2001
Shaw 2
Apes and Language: A Literature Review
Over the past thirty years, researchers have demonstrated that the great apes
(chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans) resemble humans in language abilities more than had been thought possible. Just how far that resemblance extends, however, has been a matter of some controversy. Researchers agree that the apes have acquired fairly large vocabularies in
American Sign Language and in artificial languages, but they have drawn quite different conclusions in addressing the following questions:
1. How spontaneously have apes used language?
2. How creatively have apes used language?
3. Can apes create sentences?
4. What are the implications of the ape language studies?
This review of the literature on apes and language focuses on these four questions.
How Spontaneously Have Apes Used Language?
In an influential article, Terrace, Petitto, Sanders, and Bever argued that the apes in the language experiments were not using language spontaneously but were merely imitating their trainers, responding to conscious or unconscious cues. Terrace and his colleagues at Columbia
University had trained a chimpanzee, Nim, in American Sign Language, so their skepticism about the apes’ abilities received much attention. In fact, funding for ape language research was sharply reduced following publication of their 1979 article, “Can an Ape Create a Sentence?”1
1. Haley Terrace et al., "Can an Ape Create a Sentence?" Science 206 (1979): 894.
Shaw 3
In retrospect, the conclusions of Terrace and others seem to have been premature.
Although some early ape language studies had not been rigorously controlled to eliminate cuing,
R. A. Gardner and B. T. Gardner were conducting double-blind experiments that prevented any possibility of cuing as early as the 1970s.2 Since 1979, researchers have diligently guarded against cuing. For example, Rosh
Bibliography: Begley, Steve. "Aping Language." Newsweek 131 (January 19, 1998): 56–58. Booth, William. "Monkeying with Language: Is Chimp Using Words or Merely Aping Handlers?" The Washington Post, October 29, 1990, A3. Eckholm, Elson. "Kanzi the Chimp: A Life in Science." The New York Times, June 25, 1985, C1, C3. Fouts, Robin. Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Taught Me about Who We Are. New York: William Morrow, 1997. Gibbons, Adam. "Déjà Vu All Over Again: Chimp Language Wars." Science 251 (1991):1561– 1562. University Press, 1990. Johnson, Glenn. "Chimp Talk Debate: Is It Really Language?" The New York Times. June 6, 1995 New York: Doubleday, 1992. Lewin, Rosh. "Look Who’s Talking Now." New Scientist 130 (1991): 40–52. Cantfort, 269–79. Albany: SUNY Press, 1989. Patterson, Frances, and Elton Linden. The Education of Koko. New York: Holt, Rineheart & Winston, 1981. Rumbaugh, Deborah. "Primate Language and Cognition: Common Ground." Social Research 62 (1995): 711–730. Terrace, Haley S., et al. "Can an Ape Create a Sentence?" Science 206 (1979): 891–902.