It is argued that the importance of Project Nim has been exaggerated. The project contains many flaws such that the performance of the chimpanzee, Nim, provides very little information on a chimpanzee's ability with language. Nim learned exactly what he was trained; he was provided little opportunity either to learn or use language.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
MarxJ. L.Ape language controversy flares up. Science, 1980, 207, 1330–1333.
2.
MuncerS. J.EttlingerG.Communication and syntax in the chimpanzee: first-trial mastery of word order that is critical for meaning, but failure to negate conjunctions. Neuropsychologia, 1981, 19, 73–78.
3.
NewportE. L.Motherese, the speech of mothers to young children. In CastellonN. J.PisoniD. B.PottsG. R. (Eds.), Cognitive theory. Vol. 2. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1977. Pp. 46–72.
4.
PassinghamR. E.The human ape. London: Freeman, in press.
5.
SandersR. J.The influence of verbal and nonverbal context on the sign language conversations of a chimpanzee. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia Univer., 1980.
6.
Savage-RumbaughE. S.Acquisition of functional symbol usage in apes and children. Paper presented at Harry Frank Guggenheim Conference on Animal Cognition, Columbia Univer., 1980.
7.
TerraceH. S.A report to an academy, 1980. Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 1981, 364, 94–113.
8.
TerraceH. S.PetittoL. A.BeverT. G.Project Nim: a progress report 1 and 2, Columbia University Psychology Department, 1976.
9.
TerraceH. S.PetittoL. A.SandersR. J.BeverT. G.Can an ape create a sentence?Science, 1979, 206, 891–902.