AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Also in the early 1970’s, a chimpanzee named Washoe was taught to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) by Beatrix and Allen Gardner at the University of Nevada in Reno. She was immersed in an environment where she learned to use ASL in daily interactions with her human companions.

Detailed explanation-2: -Koko learned sign language at a pace that paralleled language acquisition by human children. Her most rapid gains in new vocabulary occurred between years 2.5 and 4.5, as compared with human children who spike between 2 and 4 years.

Detailed explanation-3: -Teaching method After the first couple of years of the language project, the Gardners and Roger Fouts discovered that Washoe could pick up ASL gestures without direct instruction, but instead by observing humans around her who were signing amongst themselves.

Detailed explanation-4: -There are numerous stories associated with Washoe and Koko and there is much to gain from them. The main focus of these studies were that apes could not only learn language but create new words, even lie and express other emotions independently.

Detailed explanation-5: -When she was about 12 months old, animal psychologist Francine “Penny” Patterson started to train her to use a version of American Sign Language. Her instructors said Koko used it to convey thoughts and feelings. Ms Patterson and her researchers documented that the gorilla understood some 2, 000 words of spoken English.