Washoe (chimpanzee)
Encyclopedia
Washoe was a chimpanzee
who was the first non-human to learn to communicate using American Sign Language
, as part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition.
Washoe learned approximately 350 words of ASL. She also taught her adopted son Loulis some American Sign Language. Using similar teaching methods, several other chimpanzees were later taught 150 or more signs, which they were able to combine to form complex messages.
Washoe was named for Washoe County, Nevada
, where she was raised and taught to use ASL.
In 1967, Allen 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
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, which is how they communicate in the wild, by starting a language project based on American Sign Language. 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 x 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 underwent a regular routine with chores, outdoor play, and rides in the family car.
One claim was that upon seeing a swan, Washoe signed "water" and "bird". Harvard psychologist Roger Brown said that "was like getting an S.O.S. from outer space".
At age 5, the Gardners decided to move on to other projects, and Washoe was moved to the University of Oklahoma
's Institute of Primate Studies in Norman, Oklahoma
, under the care of the Foutses.
While with Washoe, the Gardners and Fouts were careful to only communicate in ASL with Washoe, rather than using vocal communication, on the assumption that this would create a less confusing learning environment for Washoe. This technique is commonly used when teaching human children how to sign.
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. Moreover, the Gardners began to realize that rewarding particular signs with food and tickles was actually interfering with the intended result of conversational sign language. They changed their strategy so that food and meal times were never juxtaposed with instruction times. In addition, they stopped the tickle rewards during instruction because these generally resulted in laughing breakdowns. Instead, they set up a conversational environment that evoked communication, without the use of rewards for specific actions.
For researchers to consider that Washoe had learned a sign, she had to use it spontaneously and appropriately for 14 consecutive days.
These signs were then further tested 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."
", Moja referred to it as a "METAL CUP DRINK".
. Roger Fouts recounts the following situation:
(Note: Washoe herself lost two children; one baby died shortly after birth of a heart defect, the other baby, Sequoyah, died of a staph infection at two months of age.)
When Washoe was shown an image of herself in the mirror, and asked what she was seeing, she replied: "Me, Washoe." Primate expert Jane Goodall
, who has studied and lived with chimpanzees for decades, believes that this might indicate some level of self awareness. Washoe experienced an identity crisis
when she was first introduced to other chimpanzees. She was shocked to learn that she was not human, but gradually came to accept that she was a chimpanzee, and to enjoy associating with other chimps.
Washoe also enjoyed playing pretend with her dolls, which she would bathe and talk to and would act out imaginary scenarios.
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.
since 1980; on October 30, 2007, officials from the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
on the CWU campus announced that she had died at the age of 42.
Animal rights
advocate Joan Dunayer
thinks that Washoe's comprehension and usage of human language is particularly interesting, when compared to the difficulty that a human would have learning an animal language.
Work with Washoe and other signing primates motivated the foundation of the Great Ape Project
, which hopes to "include the non-human great apes[chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas] within the community of equals by granting them the basic moral and legal protections that only humans currently enjoy", in order to place them in the moral category of "persons" rather than private property
.
project failed in its attempt to replicate the results of Washoe. This failure is attributed to poor teaching, and to Nim being consistently isolated in a sterile laboratory environment, and often confined in cages, for his entire life. Nim did most of his learning in a white eight-by-eight laboratory
room (with one of the walls containing a one-way mirror), where he was often trained to use signs without the referent present. Living in this setting, Nim did not receive the same level of nurturing, affection, and life experience, and many have suggested that this impaired his cognitive development
, as happens with human children subjected to such an environment.
The publication of the Washoe experiments spurred a revival in the scholarly study of sign language, due to widespread interest in questions it raised about the biological roots of language.
Common Chimpanzee
The common chimpanzee , also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Colloquially, the common chimpanzee is often called the chimpanzee , though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the common chimpanzee and the closely related bonobo, formerly called the pygmy...
who was the first non-human to learn to communicate using American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
, as part of a research experiment on animal language acquisition.
Washoe learned approximately 350 words of ASL. She also taught her adopted son Loulis some American Sign Language. Using similar teaching methods, several other chimpanzees were later taught 150 or more signs, which they were able to combine to form complex messages.
Early life
Washoe was born in West Africa in 1965. She was captured for use by the US Air Force for research for the space program.Washoe was named for Washoe County, Nevada
Washoe County, Nevada
Washoe County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. The population was 421,407 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County includes the Reno-Sparks metropolitan area.-History:...
, where she was raised and taught to use ASL.
In 1967, Allen and Beatrix Gardner established a project to teach Washoe ASL at the University of Nevada, Reno
University of Nevada, Reno
The University of Nevada, Reno , is a teaching and research university established in 1874 and located in Reno, Nevada, USA...
. At the time, previous attempts to teach chimpanzees to imitate vocal languages (the Gua
Gua (chimpanzee)
Gua was a chimpanzee raised as though it were a human child by scientists Luella and Winthrop Kellogg alongside their infant son Donald. Gua and Donald were raised as brother and sister. In tests Gua often tested ahead of Donald in reading and understanding. Slight differences in their placement...
and Vicki
Vicki (chimpanzee)
Viki was the subject of one of the first experiments in ape language. Viki was raised by Keith and Catherine Hayes in the same manner as a human infant, to see if she could learn human words. She was given speech therapy, which involved the Hayeses manipulating her lower jaw...
projects) had failed. The Gardners believed that these projects were flawed because chimps are physically unable to produce the voiced sounds
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
required for spoken language. Their solution was to utilize the chimpanzee's ability to create diverse body gestures, which is how they communicate in the wild, by starting a language project based on American Sign Language. 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 x 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 underwent a regular routine with chores, outdoor play, and rides in the family car.
One claim was that upon seeing a swan, Washoe signed "water" and "bird". Harvard psychologist Roger Brown said that "was like getting an S.O.S. from outer space".
At age 5, the Gardners decided to move on to other projects, and Washoe was moved to the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
's Institute of Primate Studies in Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
, under the care of the Foutses.
Teaching method
Washoe was raised in an environment as close as possible to that of a human child, in an attempt to satisfy her psychological need for companionship.While with Washoe, the Gardners and Fouts were careful to only communicate in ASL with Washoe, rather than using vocal communication, on the assumption that this would create a less confusing learning environment for Washoe. This technique is commonly used when teaching human children how to sign.
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
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...
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. Moreover, the Gardners began to realize that rewarding particular signs with food and tickles was actually interfering with the intended result of conversational sign language. They changed their strategy so that food and meal times were never juxtaposed with instruction times. In addition, they stopped the tickle rewards during instruction because these generally resulted in laughing breakdowns. Instead, they set up a conversational environment that evoked communication, without the use of rewards for specific actions.
Confirmed ASL signs
Washoe learned approximately 350 words of ASL.For researchers to consider that Washoe had learned a sign, she had to use it spontaneously and appropriately for 14 consecutive days.
These signs were then further tested using a double-blind
Double-blind
A blind or blinded experiment is a scientific experiment where some of the people involved are prevented from knowing certain information that might lead to conscious or subconscious bias on their part, invalidating the results....
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."
Combinations of signs
Washoe and her mates were 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 didn't know the word for "thermosThermos
Thermos may refer to:* A vacuum flask generically known as a "thermos"* a brand of domestic vacuum flask made by Thermos L.L.C.* Thermos , an ancient Greek city, the capital city of the Aetolian League...
", Moja referred to it as a "METAL CUP DRINK".
Self-awareness and emotion
One of Washoe's caretakers was pregnant and missed work for many weeks after she miscarriedMiscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
. Roger Fouts recounts the following situation:
- "People who should be there for her and aren't are often given the cold shoulder--her way of informing them that she's miffed at them. Washoe greeted Kat
[the caretaker] in just this way when she finally returned to work with the chimps. Kat made her apologies to Washoe, then decided to tell her the truth, signing "MY BABY DIED." Washoe stared at her, then looked down. She finally peered into Kat's eyes again and carefully signed "CRY", touching her cheek and drawing her finger down the path a tear would make on a human. (Chimpanzees don't shed tears.) Kat later remarked that that one sign told her more about Washoe and her mental capabilities than all her longer, grammatically perfect sentences."
(Note: Washoe herself lost two children; one baby died shortly after birth of a heart defect, the other baby, Sequoyah, died of a staph infection at two months of age.)
When Washoe was shown an image of herself in the mirror, and asked what she was seeing, she replied: "Me, Washoe." Primate expert Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
, who has studied and lived with chimpanzees for decades, believes that this might indicate some level of self awareness. Washoe experienced an identity crisis
Identity crisis
Identity crisis is an internal conflict of and search for identity.Identity crisis may also refer to:In comics:* Identity Crisis , DC Comics seven-issue limited series...
when she was first introduced to other chimpanzees. She was shocked to learn that she was not human, but gradually came to accept that she was a chimpanzee, and to enjoy associating with other chimps.
Washoe also enjoyed playing pretend with her dolls, which she would bathe and talk to and would act out imaginary scenarios.
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.
Later life, and death
Washoe had lived at Central Washington UniversityCentral Washington University
Central Washington University, often abbreviated CWU, is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington in the United States.This location was selected by the state legislature as a consolation prize after Ellensburg lost its bid to be state capital...
since 1980; on October 30, 2007, officials from the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute
The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute is located on the campus of Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. CHCI is a sanctuary for three chimpanzees who have learned to communicate with humans and each other using American Sign Language. CHCI's co-directors are Roger...
on the CWU campus announced that she had died at the age of 42.
Impact on bioethics
Some believe that the fact that Washoe not only communicated with, but also formed close and personal relationships with, humans indicates that she is emotionally sensitive and is deserving of moral status.Animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
advocate Joan Dunayer
Joan Dunayer
Joan Dunayer is a writer, editor, and animal rights advocate. "A graduate of Princeton University, she has master's degrees in English literature, English education, and psychology...
thinks that Washoe's comprehension and usage of human language is particularly interesting, when compared to the difficulty that a human would have learning an animal language.
Work with Washoe and other signing primates motivated the foundation of the Great Ape Project
Great Ape Project
The Great Ape Project , founded in 1994, is an international organization of primatologists, anthropologists, ethicists, and other experts who advocate a United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes that would confer basic legal rights on non-human great apes: chimpanzees, bonobos,...
, which hopes to "include the non-human great apes
Private property
Private property is the right of persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of, and bequeath land, capital, and other forms of property. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which refers to assets owned by a state, community or government rather than by...
.
Related animal language projects
The Nim ChimpskyNim Chimpsky
Nim Chimpsky was a chimpanzee who was the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition at Columbia University, led by Herbert S. Terrace....
project failed in its attempt to replicate the results of Washoe. This failure is attributed to poor teaching, and to Nim being consistently isolated in a sterile laboratory environment, and often confined in cages, for his entire life. Nim did most of his learning in a white eight-by-eight laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
room (with one of the walls containing a one-way mirror), where he was often trained to use signs without the referent present. Living in this setting, Nim did not receive the same level of nurturing, affection, and life experience, and many have suggested that this impaired his cognitive development
Child development
Child development stages describe theoretical milestones of child development. Many stage models of development have been proposed, used as working concepts and in some cases asserted as nativist theories....
, as happens with human children subjected to such an environment.
The publication of the Washoe experiments spurred a revival in the scholarly study of sign language, due to widespread interest in questions it raised about the biological roots of language.
See also
- Animal intelligence
- Great ape languageGreat Ape languageResearch into non-human great ape language has involved teaching chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans to communicate with human beings and with each other using sign language, physical tokens, and lexigrams; see Yerkish...
- Koko (gorilla)Koko (gorilla)Koko is a female western lowland gorilla who, according to Francine "Penny" Patterson, is able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language, and understand approximately 2,000 words of spoken English....
- List of apes
- Alex (parrot)Alex (parrot)Alex was an African Grey Parrot and the subject of a thirty-year experiment by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg, initially at the University of Arizona and later at Harvard University and Brandeis University. Pepperberg bought Alex in a regular pet shop when he was about one year old...
, talking parrot - Batyr (Elephant)BatyrBatyr was an Asian elephant claimed to be able to use a large amount of meaningful human speech. Living in a zoo in Kazakhstan, Batyr was reported as having a vocabulary of more than 20 phrases....
External links
- Friends of Washoe -- a non-profit organization