can chimp learn human language

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Can chimp learn human language?

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Can chimp learn human language?

What is Chimps

Chimpanzees are our closest living relatives, sharing more than 98 percent of our genetic blueprint. Humans and chimps are also thought to share a common ancestor who lived some four to eight million years ago

Types of Chimps

Common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes (West and Central Africa)

Bonobo, Pan paniscus (forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Background

Chimpanzees live in social communities of several dozen animals, and can habituate themselves to African rain forests, woodlands, and grasslands.

Although they normally walk on all fours (knuckle-walking), chimpanzees can stand and walk upright. By swinging from branch to branch they can also move quite efficiently in the trees, where they do most of their eating. Chimpanzees usually sleep in the trees as well, employing nests of leaves.

Source; http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/chimpanzee/

What is language?

Language is the most important aspect in the life of all beings.

What is language?

We use language to express inner thoughts and emotions, make sense of complex and abstract thought, to learn to communicate with others, to fulfill our wants and needs, as well as to establish rules and maintain our culture.

What is language?

Language can be defined as verbal, physical, biologically innate, and a basic form of communication.

What is language?

Behaviourists often define language as a learned behaviour involving a stimulus and a response.(Ormrod,1995)

Often times they will refer to language as verbal behaviour, which is language that includes gestures and body movements as well as spoken word. ( Pierce,& Eplin,1999)

What is language?

When we define language we have to be careful not to exclude symbols, gestures,ormotions. This is because if we exclude these from our definition, we will be denying the language of the deaf community.

What is language?

All human languages share basic characteristics, some of which are organizational rules and infinite generativity.

Infinite Generativity is the ability to produce an infinite number of sentences using a limited set of rules and words. ( Santrock,& Mitterer,2001)

What is language?

Most or all non-human species can exchange information, but none of them are known to have a system of communication with a complexity that in any way is comparable to language. Primarily, they communicate with non-linguistic means resembling our smiling, laughing, yelling, clenching of fists, and raising of eye brows.

What is language?

Chimpanzees, gorillas, and oranutangs can exchange different kinds of information by emitting different kinds of shrieks, composing their faces in numerous ways, and moving their hands or arms in different gestures, but they do not have words and sentences.

What is language?

Source

http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/ikos/EXFAC03-AAS/h05/larestoff/linguistics/Chapter%201.(H05).pdf

Chimpanzee Communication

A female chimpanzee named Washoe kicked off man's earnest quest to teach chimps human language. She was born in Africa in 1965 and eventually taken to Washoe County, Nev. (her namesake); that's where Washoe became the subject of cognitive research performed by Allen and Beatrix Gardener

Washoe

Washoe

. The chimp wowed the world when she successfully learned American Sign Language, which had never happened before with a nonhuman primate. Washoe then passed her skills on to her adopted son Loulis, and by the time she died in 2007, Washoe had mastered around 130 signs

[source: Carey]

http://www.friendsofwashoe.org/meet/washoe.html

Nim

In 1973, Columbia University psychologist Herbert Terrace wanted to see what happened with a chimp's language if it were raised as a human [source: Adler].

Nim Chimpsky -- named in snide homage for Noam Chomsky -- moved in with a family in New York City and was taught American Sign Language.

Nim

Photograph: Harry Benson

Nim

Although Nim memorized 150 signs, researchers discovered his proficiency sprang from imitation of his teacher rather than unprompted communication [source: Adler]. Like Washoe, Nim hadn't cracked the code on spontaneous, humanlike communication.

Can chimp learn language?

Nevertheless, there are some interesting things going on in the apes' brains when signing or communicating with their innate gestures and vocalizations.

Can chimp learn language?

PET scans conducted during a study for the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University found that

chimpanzee communication activated the same regions of the brain as human language, particularly Broca's area and Wernicke's area

[source: Moskowitz].

Can Chimpanzees Talk?

1. Chimpanzee shares 98.4% of the human genetic code, which is more comparing to other animals.

Human vs Chimpchromosomes

Can Chimpanzees Talk?

2. Chimpanzee can be trained to use sign language

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUwOvF7TqgA

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3b0t9JfFhI

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55put3MLZcw

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxInjW1CMbk

Can Chimpanzees Talk?

3. They can learn to order their symbols to get what they want, but they can’t master the syntax.

For example: Water bird.

“Give Washoe” or “Me orange

Can Chimpanzees Talk?

4. The chimpanzee’s vocal cords are located higher in their throats and cannot be controlled as well as human vocal cords.

Conclusion: Chimpanzees are not capable of human language.

Thank you HUMAN for your attentions