near San Francisco California a
fascinating and now controversial
experiment has been underway since 1972
research psychologist penny Patterson is
teaching lowland gorillas koko the
American Sign Language of the deaf
dr. Patterson claims koko has a working
vocabulary of about 450 signs and that
because Patterson also talks while
signing Koko understands hundreds of
spoken words as well for many years
researchers have been fascinated with
the language possibilities in
chimpanzees Patterson is the first to
work with gorillas in Coco’s mobile home
not far from Patterson’s house even
breakfast is a time for work for there
all right this is hot
you stir cocoa it’s needs to be stirred
okay now try it Michael
in an adjoining room of the trailer a
trainer works with seven-year-old
Michael
it is hoped that one day he and cocoa
will make and you find something soft
there’s something soft here yes that’s
soft
yeah yes feel it nice what color is that
it’s orange
very good Apple okay first let’s look at
let’s get new one take that one out
let’s see which one would you like to
look at Coco we have three new ones
which one the monkeys
okay the monkeys monkeys all right let’s
see I’ll get them up okay here let’s
change this one
can you tell me about what you see can
you tell me a little about that what do
you see
Margie trouble I’ve gotta see if there’s
someone in here that looks like Archie
just with it well there’s a monkey
swimming on this one just just be
patient be patient I have to look penny
Margie somehow well there’s a girl that
looks like Margie yes there’s a girl
feeding a monkey and she looks a bit
like Margie yeah what’s wrong here is
there anything wrong with reading
readiness tests used with human children
Paterson tests Coco’s grasp of concept
that good and then you say the tree well
you showed me the trees that’s wrong
right
anything else
yes they have that the lady and the toy
that is a bit weird pretty neat
look there are stars can you find the
eyes in this picture those are the eyes
critics of a plan which studies claim
that the animals are not creating true
language that it is merely mimicry or
responses evoked by inadvertent cues
Patterson is quick to point out that
Koko often signs to herself in this case
several repetitions of flower and hat
clearly Patterson says something more
complex than mimicry is involved in the
mental capacities koko displays perhaps
criticism will abate as Apes begin to
sign to each other
Patterson reports instances of this
between koko and Mike and hopes they
will eventually pass on their abilities
to their offspring but work aside at
day’s end there is time now just for fun
you’re thirsty today because it’s hot
more I think you need more more water
okay that’s enough linguists and
philosophers argue the definition of
language and whether it is uniquely
human in academic corridors the debate
will go on but for now few can deny we
have glimpsed a mind more fascinating
than ever imagined before by knowing
more about gorillas about their
intelligence how sensitive they are how
perceptive they are we can hope to
convey the importance of saving views as
a species to people who are living with
them and are competing rhythm if they
realize how similar to man they are
perhaps conservation efforts will be
enhanced
[Music]
