What did you think of these films?
Answer: I loved watching them, especially Koko, it was a rollercoaster ride for my emotions. It was fascinating to see the way Koko and Kanzi, had learned to communicate in the same language that humans do. I keep wondering if more people were as dedicated as Dr. Patterson with this subject, how far we would be today with communicating with other primates. Would these primates eventually be teaching other primates the human language by means of cultural transmission? If so, in a million years from now, and through the process of natural selection, I wonder how advanced these bonobos and gorillas would be.
-What (if anything) did you learn from the films that you did not gain from reading the text or listening to the class lecture?
Answer: I think the chapter fourteen covered pretty much everything.
-Do you feel that Penny Patterson has made a contribution to science through her work with Koko? Please elaborate if you think she has done so.
Answer: I believe she has made huge contribution to science. Her work with Koko produced many great results, and showed us the capabilities of these primates that cannot be ignored. I think the biggest breakthrough would …show more content…
In an article on Columbia College Today, Herbert Terrace Studies Evolution of Language, his conclusion was that these primates were only “brilliant beggars.” They had only learned responses to things that were wanted, or were cued to sign something by their trainer just before they did it, that it was not spontaneous or conversational. He makes me feel like I’m choosing to believe with my heart rather than my brain. But after watching Koko demonstrate many of the attributes that humans do, such as communicate, feel lonely, love, mourn, demonstrate linguistic displacement, I feel that Dr. Patterson’s research may have been more successful than Dr.
Answer: I loved watching them, especially Koko, it was a rollercoaster ride for my emotions. It was fascinating to see the way Koko and Kanzi, had learned to communicate in the same language that humans do. I keep wondering if more people were as dedicated as Dr. Patterson with this subject, how far we would be today with communicating with other primates. Would these primates eventually be teaching other primates the human language by means of cultural transmission? If so, in a million years from now, and through the process of natural selection, I wonder how advanced these bonobos and gorillas would be.
-What (if anything) did you learn from the films that you did not gain from reading the text or listening to the class lecture?
Answer: I think the chapter fourteen covered pretty much everything.
-Do you feel that Penny Patterson has made a contribution to science through her work with Koko? Please elaborate if you think she has done so.
Answer: I believe she has made huge contribution to science. Her work with Koko produced many great results, and showed us the capabilities of these primates that cannot be ignored. I think the biggest breakthrough would …show more content…
In an article on Columbia College Today, Herbert Terrace Studies Evolution of Language, his conclusion was that these primates were only “brilliant beggars.” They had only learned responses to things that were wanted, or were cued to sign something by their trainer just before they did it, that it was not spontaneous or conversational. He makes me feel like I’m choosing to believe with my heart rather than my brain. But after watching Koko demonstrate many of the attributes that humans do, such as communicate, feel lonely, love, mourn, demonstrate linguistic displacement, I feel that Dr. Patterson’s research may have been more successful than Dr.