Savage Rumbah Flashcards
What were the names of the 2 pygmy chimps?
Kanzi and Mulika
What gender were they?
Kanzi was male
Mulika was female
What ages were they throughout the study?
Kanzi- 30-47 months
Mulika- 11-12 months
Why were pygmy chimps chosen instead on common chimps?
It was believed that pygmy chimps were more sociable and intelligent than common chimps.
Why might these pygmy chimps not be truly representative of their species?
As Kanzi and Mulika had been reared in a language environment where others are reared in their natural environment.
What were the names of the common chimps that were compared to the pygmy ones?
Austin & Sherman
What was the size of the forest?
55 acres
How many named locations were there?
17
What are some examples of names ?
Peaches and cherries
What kind of symbols were used on the lexigram?
Visual geometric symbols
What was added to the communication system to make spoken words?
Speech synthesizer
what did the researchers use along side the lexigram?
American sign language
How did Kanzi and Mulika learn to use the lexigram?
Imitation, Kanzi learnt from his mother and Mulika learnt from Kanzi
How was data recorded when they were indoors?
automatically recorded
How was data recorded when they were outdoors?
recorded by hand (human error)
How was each utterance (word or sentence) classified ?
correct/incorrect
spontaneous
Imitated
Structured
How many spontaneous utterance have to occur to count it as acquired?
9/10 times
how many formal tests were there?
4
What was the photo to lexigram test?
Kanzi and Mulika were shown a photo and asked to select from a choice of 3 the correct lexigram symbol for that photo.
What was the spoken English to lexigram test?
chimp would listen to spoken English word, then select the appropriate lexigram symbol choice out of 3
What was the spoken English to photograph test?
Kanzi and Mulika would listen to spoken English word, then had to select an appropriate photo out of 3.
Who didn’t take part in the synthesised speech to lexigram test ?
Mulika
What was the synthesised speech to lexigram test ?
Chimp presented with spoken English from speech synthesiser, To prove that chimps didn’t understand the computer voice.
How many words were acquired by Kanzi over the 17 month period?
46 words
How many words were acquired by Mulika over the 17 month period?
37 words
Who acquired 46 words?
Kanzi
Who acquired 37 words ?
Mulika
Which chimps language acquisition was the slowest?
Mulika
What could Kanzi do within 4 months?
Learnt where all the 17 foods were located and could take others to that location too.
What ages did Kanzi and Mulika spontaneously begin to communicate preferred directions of travel?
Kanzi - 4 months
Mulika - 6 months into study
How did the formal tests differ from Austin and Sherman’s?
A + S were unable to select photographs in response to spoken language, they had to be rewarded with food.
how did Kanzi and Mulika learn language?
Imitation
How was the reliability of the observation checked?
4 1/2 hours of ‘real life’ observations made and compared to a video tape at the same time.
There was 100% agreement in the use of a lexigram.
What was the one disagreement?
Whether an utterance was spontaneous or not.
how was the blind test used when Kanzi was about 3 years old?
He was tested by a person, whom had no idea of the forest and was taken around by Kanzi
Why was this used?
To test that researchers were not helping chimps
How long was the study conducted under?
17 month period
Which research method did this study use?
Longitudinal experimental quasi case study
How do you know this?
Quasi- there was breed was naturally occurring
Lab- IV was manipulated not real life setting
Case study- same small sample of chimps over a long time
Which research design was used?
Independent
Why is this study independent measures?
Each test had a different condition, e.g. whether the ape was pygmy or common, also it was quasi so it had to be pygmy or common
What was the aim?
To investigate the human language capabilities of a pygmy chimp.
What was Kanzi exposed to at the age of 6 months?
He witnessed his mother, Matata, communicating with the keepers.
One strength of using quantitative data in this study
Made the data easy analyse and compare to normal chimps. Also makes it easier to record data as chimps cannot speak.
What is one conclusion could be made from savage rumbaugh?
pygmy chimps can spontaneously acquire human language. Pygmy chimps comprehend spoken English. common chimps do not.
