Monkey See Monkey Do

I was interested in how we "know" if one actually "knows" a language. A professor in one of my classes posed this scenario and gave the following answers.

Suppose some scientific group claimed, in the New York Times,

 that a chimpanzee can truly “talk” using a natural sign language.

1. Capacity question: For this claim to be true, the chimpanzee would probably need to 

• Be curious about what new words mean.

• Know at least 1,000 words.

• Be able to ask questions.

• Can tell you if a sequence is ungrammatical

2. Philosophically motivated question:  Issues raised by the chimpanzee's alleged capacity include

• Whether the chimpanzee learned the language with very little instruction.

• Whether its language knowledge draws on innate capacities.

• How much of the language ability depends on being smart.

3. History of psychological theories issues:  If the chimpanzee has truly mastered language, it probably explicitly recognizes that…

• Different sentence constructions can involve the same agents, verbs and objects, but in different arrangements (e.g. passive vs active…).

4. Experimental behavior question:  If the chimpanzee has mastered the grammar of a language in ways similar to humans, it will probably (remember the assumption is that the chimpanzee has learned sign language)....

• In an experimental setting, mislocate brief location of flashing lights as having actually occurred between phrases.

5. Acquisition question: In tracing the stages of developing knowledge of sign language, if it is like the stages of human children learning their first language (select all that are true and none that are not true)...

• Sometimes the chimp learned exceptions to general rules first, but then, when he learned the regular rule, he used it on the exceptions, creating ungrammatical utterances that he got correct at an earlier stage.

• At an early stage, chimps produce gestures that look like real signs but are actually a kind of visual “babbling”.

• The chimp(s) seemed to learn the syntax rules in discrete steps.

6. Speech errors question: As the chimp's ability to produce utterances improved, if it was like human speech production…

• Certain kinds of speech errors would reveal how words are fitted into phrase frames.

7. Neurology question: If it were possible to use brain imaging techniques chimps, and the neurological organization of the language is like that in humans, it would show that…

• There are particular regions of the brain specialized for different aspects of language knowledge and behavior.

Based on what the chimpanzee "should" be able to do if it truly has acquired the use of language, I now doubt whether I have actually acquired a language....