With most animals, humans must rely on body language and tone of voice in order to convey a specific message. Likewise, by watching the behavior of the animal, humans can often determine what’s being conveyed. In some cases, however, successful communications have been established between members of the human species and those of the animal kingdom through sign language. According to studies, some primates are able to grasp a solid understanding of this form of communication and put it to practical use.
Although most people believe that Koko the gorilla was the first to master American Sign Language, this isn’t the case at all. Washoe the chimp was actually the first member of the primate family who came to learn this form of communication. She was able to demonstrate comprehension through the messages that she frequently signed, such as in the case of “give me tickle” when she wanted one of her trainers to tickle her – something which she particularly enjoyed. Once, upon meeting a monkey that she didn’t like, she looked at her trainer and signed, “dirty monkey.” When she noticed a swan on the lake during an outing one day, she signed, “water bird.” During her 51 months’ worth of training – beginning when she was 11 months of age – Washoe learned and used 151 signs of American Sign Language. The fact that she could sign, “Baby in my drink” upon finding a small plastic doll in her cup one day is a testament to the fact that Washoe had achieved comprehension, invalidating the argument that she was simply mimicking that which she had been shown during previous training sessions. In addition, when her newborn baby died shortly after its birth, Washoe signed, “My baby died.”
A chimpanzee, named Nim Chimpsky after Noam Chomsky (a notable linguist), had the honor of being the one of the first chimps to accomplish the task of learning sign language. In fact, he became quite famous in his day, dazzling folks with impressive TV performances and becoming the focus of a number of books. During the time when he was “off stage,” Nim loved to watch TV, thumb through magazines and play “dress up” with hats and shoes. Unfortunately for Nim Chimpsky, when the limelight faded, researchers made the decision to sell him to a hepatitis research lab, where he became the subject of a number of painful experiments and was eventually killed.