MICHAEL CRICHTON

This seemed so self-evident that for the next fifteen years nobody bothered totry teaching language to an ape. Then in 1966, a Reno, Nevada, couple namedBeatrice and Allen Gardner reviewed movies of Vicki speaking. It seemed tothem that Vicki was not so much incapable of language as incapable of speech.They noticed that while her lip movements were awkward, her hand gestureswere fluid and expressive. The obvious conclusion was to try sign language.In June, 1966, the Gardners began teaching American Sign Language(Ameslan), the standardized language of the deaf, to an infant chimpanzeenamed Washoe. Washoe’s progress with ASL was rapid; by 1971, she had avocabulary of 160 signs, which she used in conversation. She also made up newword combinations for things she had never seen before: when shownwatermelon for the first time, she signed it “water fruit.”The Gardners’ work was highly controversial; it turned out that many scientistshad an investment in the idea that apes were incapable of language. (As oneresearcher said, “My God, think of all those eminent names attached to all thosescholarly papers for all those decades—and everyone agreeing that only manhad language. What a mess.”)Washoe’s skills provoked a variety of other experiments in teaching language.A chimpanzee named Lucy was taught to communicate through a computer;another, Sarah, wastaught to use plastic markers on a board. Other apes were studied as well. Anorangutan named Alfred began instruction in 1971; a lowland gorilla named Kokoin 1972; and in 1973 Peter Elliot began with a mountain gorilla, Amy.At his first visit to the hospital to meet Amy, he found a pathetic little creature,heavily sedated, with restraining straps on her frail black arms and legs. Hestroked her head and said gently, “Hello, Amy, I’m Peter.”Amy promptly bit his hand, drawing blood.From this inauspicious beginning emerged a singularly successful researchprogram. In 1973, the basic teaching technique, called molding, was wellunderstood. The animal was shown an object and the researcher simultaneouslymolded the animal’s hand into the correct sign, until the association was firmlymade. Subsequent testing confirmed that the animal understood the meaning ofthe sign.But if the basic methodology was accepted, the application was highlycompetitive. Researchers competed over the rate of sign acquisition, orvocabulary. (Among human beings, vocabulary was considered the best27