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 * //Teaching Sign Language to a Chimpanzee//**

//The chimpanzee as a subject: Chimps are highly intelligent which was a prerequisite for the project, but of greater importance was their sociability. Sociabilty is emphasized because of the likelihood of its contribution to language evolution in human beings. Vocal behavior in chimps differs greatly from that of humans. Vocalization is limited to exciting incidents and disturbances, and in calm situations chimps remain quiet. Use of gesture is much more frequent, thus the decision to use ASL as their form of communication.//

//American Sign Language: Two systems, finger spelling, which is a manual alphabet, and sign language, "a set of manual configurations and gesture that correspond to particular words or concepts." All of Washoe's human companions had to master ASL and use it as much as possible around her.//

//Washoe: A wild caught chimpanzee, she arrived at the Gardner's laboratory in June 1966, her age was estimated to be between 8 and 14 months, which means she was still very dependent and helpless.//

//Laboratory conditions: Minimal confinement, focus on human contact and interaction. All companions fluent in ASL, as that was the only mode of communication, since they didn't want to send negative signals about ASL, and make Woshoe feel like small fry. The environment was not silent however, laughing and and other communicative sounds were encouraged in appropriate conditions. The sounds had to be ones that Washoe could imitate. They wanted Washoe to not only ask for food and ask questions about it, they wanted her to answer questions when asked.//


 * //Training Methods//**

//Imitation: the "do this" game. If Washoe makes the wrong sign when referring to something, her companions can simply show her the correct sign until she signs it back. One example of Washoe's delayed imitation: Washoe regularly had baths. After about ten months she bathed her doll in the same way she was bathed. Other examples include signing for "toothbrush" when visiting the Gardner's home and signing "flower" on her way to a flower garden.//

//Babbling: Washoe's amount of babbling and gestures increased over time. Babbling was encouraged and responded to with clapping, smiling and repeated gestures. If Washoe made a gesture that was similar to an ASL sign this sign was repeated over and over to her, this how she learned the sign for "funny".//

//Instrumental conditioning://


 * //Results//**

//Vocabulary: It is interesting to note that Washoe could use and understand the sign for "you" but only towards the end of the experiment was she starting to grasp the idea of "me."//

//Differentiation://

//Transfer://

//Combinations://


 * //Concluding Observations//**

//**Summary**//

Through experimentation Gardner tried to teach a Chimpanzee ASL to better understand the relationship between humans and their distant ancestors. They found out that Washoe could learn words, but could not use them in an abstract situation, for example apply them to situation and syntax. By teaching her words, they tried to get her to recognize objects with words. They did this through corrections and training through applications. At the end of the study they found that Washoe could understand the word “you” but only starting to grasp “me”.

//**cool fact: chimps are 3 to 5 times stronger than man, pound for pound**// //**-human speech unsuitable for chimp to learn because the chimp's vocal apparatus is different. use of the hands is important in chimp communication...**//