Through trial and error, since the researchers cannot tell them what to

And punishment is far greater when we try to shape an animal, espe-

Cially in research projects that have to deliver results in short time

According to controlled and reportable procedures.

P 32-33:

Savage-Rumbaugh’s sister and colleague Elizabeth Pugh, who initiated

the apes into many new aspects of language by exploiting how the

moment attracts their attention, describes to us how laborious her work

was before the discovery of young Kanzi’s language. In those times she

Used the simple mechanics of reinforcement, and she explains how

Deciding when to give the ape a food reward soon became so compli-

Cated that she felt that food became a problem in her interactions with

the apes, rather than a means of developing them. Food tended to come

in the way, and it made the ape’s attention to the situation one-

dimensional. It was a relief to leave this dull and laborious method

Behind and raise apes as children are raised, and talk about whatever it

was that for the moment attracted their attention. Instead of using food

as a reward, it became a way of making social life more pleasurable. This

opened the gates of life. When the bonobos got the opportunity to

develop their interests and inclinations in an environment that

responded sensitively to their responses, the process of learning new

forms of language no longer had to be fuelled or pushed forward: ‘learn-

ing tends to be much more comprehensive than suggested by the

traditional stimulus–response framework’ (Rumbaugh and Washburn

2003: 234). Experiencing this self-supporting process has been akin to

witnessing a force of nature, since we did not have to control it behav-

iouristically in the traditional sense, but could as it were stand beside

and watch its effects. Let us call this the design feature of spontaneity.

P 40-41:

When experimental psychologists test cognitive skills in apes who

have not acquired human language, the apes have to discover the task

through trial and error, since the researchers cannot tell them what to

do. If the apes accidentally discover what the experimenters want them

to do, they immediately obtain food. Their ability to solve the same or

related tasks can thereafter be tested more systematically. Kanzi’s and

Panbanisha’s tests, however, are mediated by language. We describe new

tasks for them and often they succeed immediately. (We sometimes buy

computer games in toyshops and bring them to the apes, who often

understand what to do simply by listening to the computer voice; see

NHK documentary Kanzi II.) One reason why Kanzi and Panbanisha

succeed so much better than other apes in psychological tests is the

design feature of immanence: the test situation becomes meaningful for

them in continuous conversation. This resembles how we constantly

talk with children when we take them to the doctor. Conversation

makes it easier to carry out the tests together with the apes: we achieve

a common understanding of the task. Such a meaningful psychological

test is filmed in Kanzi II, where Panbanisha shows that she under-

stands that a person’s beliefs may differ from how things in fact are.

P 44:

Language-trained apes use artificial symbols in a mechanical fashion,

rapidly and according to static patterns. Language is reduced to a gram-

matical steeplechase course towards obtaining food. Even though the

apes enjoy the challenge of the task, it is difficult to recognize the char-

acteristic pace and expressive rhythmic variations of human language

in the often tense and one-dimensional movements they produce. The

simple fact of the matter is that they are running a racetrack to earn a

gratification – that is what they are invited to do – rather than trying

to communicate freely with a fellow creature.

Kanzi uses the keyboard in a strikingly thoughtful manner and self-

willed Panbanisha often communicates while lying down. Lazily she

reaches out for the keyboard, pulls it towards her and slowly searches

for the symbols that express what she wants to say. Language use at the

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