Re: Nim Chimpsy (was "implicational and factive verbs"

On Thu, Jan 25, 2001 at 04:22:17AM -0500, czHANg Jon Chang wrote:
> Dan Sulani wrote:
> >     BTW, anyone ever heard of (or _remember_ ;-)  ) the original
> > "Nim"?  A chimpanzee called "Nim Chimpsky" who was one of
> > the original volunteers (er, I mean "subjects"  ;-)  ) in the research on
> > teaching apes to use (human) language.
[snip]
>     ::big grin:: I do. Interesting case: the researcher didn't relate to Nim on a an
>     emotional level & poor Nim - havin' the emotional level & needs of a 3 year
>     old child - was totally bored & burned out by the repetitiveness of all the
>     experiments. The much vaunted "Scientific Method" was too alienatin to Nim.
>      In contrast is the research done by Patterson with Koko the Gorilla: much was
>      accomplished (& evidently still is) 'cuz Patterson related on an emotional
>      level with Koko.
>
>     Science does not need to be so "cold & distant" especially when dealin with
>     interspecies communication(s).
As much as I'd like to believe Koko can speak sign language (I've been
enthralled with her story since I got the book _Koko's Kitten_ for
Christmas years ago), the experiment has been harshly criticized for
methodological flaws; according to the critics, Patterson et al. seem to
project their wishful thinking in interpreting Koko's "signing."

--
Eric Christopherson / *Aiworegs Ghristobhorosyo