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in many of t hose animals.
l ncluded is thei r abili ty to actual–
ly
converse
with humans using
sign lariguage!
Moreover, these primates,
upon close scrut iny, have been
found to exhibit types of behavior
previously thought to be
unique/y
human.
Accepted scientific con–
cepts of animal and human nature
have been severely shaken!
What are the implications of
these studies? Do they, as many
scient ists claim, bols ter the case
for evolution? Are we seeing in
behaviors of apes the rudimentary
beginnings from which man 's
abilities and nature arose?
These are the important ques–
tions, with vast implications for
both science and religion!
The Amazlng Koko
Consider the case of Koko, the
world's fi rs t known " talking"
gori lla. Koko, who resides in a
trailer home on the S tanford Uni–
versity campus, made world head–
lines just a few years ago.
The October, 1978,
National
Geographic
magazine featured
Koko in an article entitled "Con–
versations with a Gorilla." The
cover photo for that issue- a self–
portrait taken with a 35-mm.
camera- was made by Koko her–
self1
Koko, of course, cannot actual–
ly
speak.
"She has tried to speak,
but just can't do it," says her
trainer, primate researcher Fran–
cine Patterson. "The vocal tract
has a very different structure
from that of a human. All she can
do is grunt or give a high-pitched
squeak."
In a d ifferent study with a
c h impan zee, the chimp h ad
learned to utter only four simple
words áfter
six years
of effort!
How, then, does Koko do her
"conversing"?
lt
is accomplished
by means of the well-known
American Sign Language , or
Ameslan, employed widely by the
deaf. Koko began studying it in
mid-1972. By the time of the
Nationa/ Geographic
report in
1978, 7-yea r-o ld Koko had
acquired a working vocabulary of
sorne
375
hand signals!
Koko a lso und e r stan d s
16
hundreds of spoken commands.
And in addition to the use of sign
language, she has learned to com–
municate verbally by operating
the keyboard of a computerized
voice synthesizer!
Full Comprehenslon
lt
is important to unde rstand
exactly what is occurring when
Koko "converses" usi ng hand sig–
nals.
It
is well known that a parrot
can be taught to repeat many dif–
ferent words and phrases by
means of constant repetition. A
parrot, however, merely imitates
the sounds produced by its
human trainer.
lt
may be taught
to say, for example, "You're
under arrest!" But it has no com–
prehension what soever of the
meaning of those words.
Koko, by contrast, uses hand
signals with a full comprehension
of their meaning. She does not
simply
mimic
the hand and arm
movements of her trainer. She
uses them
with understanding.
It
is
much more
than simply a con–
ditioned reflex.
For example: Upon seeing a
horse with a bit in its mouth,
Koko signs, " Horse sad." When
asked
why
the horse is sad , Koko
signs, "Teeth." She is fully aware
of what she is "saying," ·and
responds spontaneously to new
situations without coaching.
Drawing upon her supply of
hundreds of signals, Koko volun–
teers comments, answers ques–
tions and engages in sometimes
lengthy conversations. She d is–
plays a
significantly
higher leve!
of performance than that of a par–
rol or of other animals that can be
t rained to perform various tricks
without understanding them.
Koko's vocabu la ry includes
words such as
airp/ane, lollípop,
friend, stethoscope, belly button,
flower
a nd
window.
She also
understands and uses such ab–
stracts as
curious, boring. stupid,
/ove; bad, good, happy, sad, fun–
ny, understand
and
imagine.
In fact, Koko's IQ has been
measured at between 85 and 95-
just below the average for a pre–
school human chi ld!
Moreover, Koko is capable of
describing new objects by using
imaginative combinations of signs
already in her vocabulary. When
shown a photograph of a zebra,
for example, Koko signed, "white
tiger." A mask became an "eye
slot." A long-nosed Pinocchio
doll became an "elephant baby."
In a similar test, the famous
female chimpanzee Washoe-the
first chimp to learn human sign
la nguage in the late 1960s–
signed "water bird" to describe a
swan.
Koko Lles, Argues
In addition to language abil ity,
primate researchers have been
intrigued to observe in apes many
unmi stakably " huma n " att ri–
butes. These include lying,
accepting bribes, a rguing, de–
stroying property, trading in–
sults- and even back-seat driv–
ing!
After Michael (a younger male
gorilla) joined Koko in her mobile
home, Koko began using him as a
convenient scapegoat. " Who
broke the toi let?" asked research–
er Patterson of the guilty Koko.
" M ichael toilet," was Koko's
reply. In another instance, Koko
blamed one of the researchers for
breaking the kitchen sink.
Such behavior, according to
one expert, is not a learned
response, but rather "the natural
outcome of the workings of a
mind that can predict what will
happen in the futu re" _._that is, a
mind that can understand simple
cause and effect.
When in a spiteful mood, Koko
addresses researcher Patterson
and her colleagues with various
insults such as "d irty toilet" and
" nut"- not unlike many of the
vulgar epithets used by humans.
1nter estingly, Koko knows
when she is misbehaving. She
occasionally describes herself as
"stubborn."
Barriera Broken?
One wr iter has observed that
Koko exhibits "a personality that
seems to break t be barriers
between human and animal."
In this vein, sorne scientists
have suggested that by studying
the behavior of apes, they might
The
PLAIN TAUTH