روز اول

TEACHING CHIMPANZEES TO TALK

Two resourceful psychologists at the University of Nevada have made splendid progress in vocabulary development in chimpanzees.

Following a number of abortive attempts to teach French, German, or English to chimps, the researchers persevered until they hit upon the American Sign Language system that is often used by deaf persons.

They have had to modify the language somewhat in order to accommodate the animals’ spontaneous gestures.

With a mixture of innate movements and learned ones, some laboratory chimps now have an extensive vocabulary.