Washoe (chimpanzee)

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Washoe is a chimpanzee, currently living at the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. She was the first non-human to acquire a human language (American Sign Language), as part of a controversial research experiment into animal language acquisition. She was named for Washoe County, Nevada, where she was raised and taught to use ASL.

In 1967, Allen and Beatrice Gardner established a project to teach Washoe ASL at the University of Nevada, Reno. Previous attempts to teach chimpanzees vocal languages (the Gua and Viki projects) had failed. The Gardners based their approach on the claim that previous projects had failed because chimpanzees' vocal apparatus is somewhat limited --not because they are inherently unable to learn language (as many evolutionary biologists and cognitive linguists claim). They chose ASL as a vehicle for their study because they noted that chimpanzees spontaneously use bodily gestures in communication in flexible ways. Like the chimpanzees in previous studies, Washoe was raised in a language-rich environment (in her case, a sign language-rich environment) that was designed to mimic that of a human child in many ways.

Today Washoe resides at Central Washington University. She is reliable for around 200 signs. For Washoe to be considered "reliable" on a sign, it has to be seen by 3 different observers in 3 separate spontaneous instances in the correct context and used appropriately. Following those observations, it has to be seen 15 days in a row to be added to her sign list.

Critics argue that her signing is due to operant conditioning and not due to her ability to comprehend and desire to communicate. As a response to Washoe, another chimpanzee, named Nim Chimpsky, was taught sign language in a similar but more strict manner. After studying Nim's abilities, his researchers claimed that chimpanzees in general are incapable of language. Roger Fouts from Washoe project believes that was caused by the artificial conditions in which Nim has been learning and living, while Washoe acquired her language abilities through the social interactions with her environment. Later Fouts proved that a community of ASL-speaking chimpanzees (including Washoe herself) was spontaneously using this language as a part of their inner communication system. The evidence has also shown that Loulis, Washoe's adopted son, learned ASL directly from his chimpanzee family. When Loulis was learning signs, humans were only allowed to use seven signs in his presence. Loulis is the first non-human animal to acquire a human language from another non-human. Washoe used methods similar to the ones that the Gardners used, such as molding his fingers into correct signs. (Teaching Sign Language, chapters 7-9)

However, it is important to note that the observations that Washoe "taught" Loulis with molding, etc. is largely anecdotal. Only a few descriptions of this behavior can be found in a book chapter published by Roger Fouts in the early 1980s. There was no systematic data collected on teaching behavior. Records of Loulis' sign use have not been updated since the first few years of the study. All researchers who have worked with these chimpanzees within the past 10 years will note that Loulis only uses about 5 signs.^{[citation needed]} Thus, his language learning, if it even exists, is not a robust phenomenon and is in no way comparable to language learning by human children.

A number of projects have sought to establish ASL or other forms of language in other chimpanzees and also in gorillas and bonobos, as well as in non-primate species such as dolphins, woodpeckers, and parrots (specifically, an African Grey Parrot named Alex). A clear view of the potential and limitation of other species' use of human languages is likely to come from an integration of the results of all these projects, rather than an essentially historical pursuit of what did or did not happen in Project Washoe. However the Washoe project will remain a milestone in the study of animal cognition, as it was considered by some to be the first success in teaching language to an animal of another species, and thus the stimulus for virtually all the projects that have followed it.