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Signing nonhuman primates?

Jeff Corey

New York Skeptic
Jeff Corey
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
13,714
I have seen evidence that convinces me that chimps and gorillas can communicate with signs that approximate American Sign Language better than I can, and probably most of you.
 

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Oh, and here's me thinking this was about signing them for sports teams.

"Their quarterback is built like a gorilla!"
"Actually..."
 
I have seen that animal give that same sign in other situations. Is this supposed to be proof of ability to sign or lack of ability of non human primates to sign? Read my lips?
 
Euromutt said:
Oh, and here's me thinking this was about signing them for sports teams.

"Their quarterback is built like a gorilla!"
"Actually..."
Click to expand...
Back in the 1970s Jack Haldeman wrote a series of sports-oriented science fiction stories. IIRC one involved this situation, or something pretty close to it. I know he had some robot "sportsmen," and think there was an ape baseball player or some such.

[edit] As for the primate shown in your picture, seeing that photo I feel an impulse to return his friendly gesture. But we skunks like to think we're above such petty petulance.
 
Jeff Corey said:
I have seen evidence that convinces me that chimps and gorillas can communicate with signs that approximate American Sign Language better than I can, and probably most of you.
Click to expand...
Can't view the picture. It's not that George Bush and the dog picture again is it?
 
@Robin: It's a Fala celebrity stand-in being carried by a guy in a President costume who's making a childish, rude gesture.
 
Jeff Corey said:
I have seen evidence that convinces me that chimps and gorillas can communicate with signs that approximate American Sign Language...
Click to expand...
I have long been intrigued by stories about animals using sign language. I have not read any formal literature about it (although I do own a copy of the children's book Koko's Kitten -- which I enjoy, but is less than convincing), but I have seen other evidence which inclines me to believe the idea that non-human primates can communicate with sign language is probably true.

One of my favorite things to do when passing through Washington DC is to stop by the National Zoo. A few years ago I was there at the right day and time to see a demonstration at the Think Tank (a building devoted to exploring how animals think, and what thinking means) of gorillas who had learned a purely-artificial language.

I forget the exact details of the language, but as I recall one shape stood for nouns, another for verbs, another for colors, etc. It was constructed this way so that the pictures representing different words had no relation to the actual words themselves. It was a fairly impressive demonstration and was part of a long-running research project which sounded to me to be well-designed and well-conducted.

I'm sorry my memory is a bit fuzzy. It's been several years since I saw the demonstration and I only saw it the one time. I'll check to see if I can find more information about it on-line later today. Is anyone else here (especially people who live in the DC area) familiar with what I am talking about?
 
Sure, why not?

If seabirds can use rocks to open mollusk shells and crows can get pieces of wire to skewer cheese doodles stuck down the ends of pipes, I don't see why sign language can't work with apes.

After all, we humans have complex languages, including sign languages, jargons, slang, etc. - and some of us are SSTUUUUUUUUUUUPPIIIDDDDDD!!!!
 
Nova Land said:
I have long been intrigued by stories about animals using sign language. I have not read any formal literature about it (although I do own a copy of the children's book Koko's Kitten -- which I enjoy, but is less than convincing), but I have seen other evidence which inclines me to believe the idea that non-human primates can communicate with sign language is probably true.

One of my favorite things to do when passing through Washington DC is to stop by the National Zoo. A few years ago I was there at the right day and time to see a demonstration at the Think Tank (a building devoted to exploring how animals think, and what thinking means) of gorillas who had learned a purely-artificial language.

I forget the exact details of the language, but as I recall one shape stood for nouns, another for verbs, another for colors, etc. It was constructed this way so that the pictures representing different words had no relation to the actual words themselves. It was a fairly impressive demonstration and was part of a long-running research project which sounded to me to be well-designed and well-conducted.

I'm sorry my memory is a bit fuzzy. It's been several years since I saw the demonstration and I only saw it the one time. I'll check to see if I can find more information about it on-line later today. Is anyone else here (especially people who live in the DC area) familiar with what I am talking about?
Click to expand...
They were probably using Yerkish, developed at the Yerkes Primate Center in Atlanta.
 
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