Coco. That was the name of the female gorilla. She lived at a gorilla foundation in California. Koko was an unusual gorilla. She could talk. Koko knew and used more than 500 words in speech and could even understand the language of the deaf.
In the sixties, scientists taught chimpanzees to understand and use sign language. Washoe, a female chimpanzee, was able to learn 132 words in four years. However, most people did not believe that gorillas could learn sign language.
They thought gorillas were not as smart as chimpanzees.In 1972, Dr. Francine Patterson began teaching sign language to a gorilla named Koko. At that time, the gorilla was 1 year old. After only 36 months (or 3 years), Koko could already use 184 words.
Her vocabulary included words like airplane, lollipop, friend and stethoscope.Koko continued to grasp everything very quickly. Soon she was able to ask questions and answer questions. She could tell when she was sad and when she was happy. She reasoned about the past and the future.
She even insulted people and lied.Psychologist Dr. Patterson tested the gorilla’s IQ. And the result showed a level of 85-95. That’s about the IQ of a normal child. Testing Koko was not easy. Some of the questions about the gorilla were not quite right.
for example. She was asked to choose as shelter from the rain a building or a tree. she chose a tree. The question was later found to be incorrect. Also, Dr. Patterson used colloquial language when communicating with Koko.
For this reason, the gorilla could understand several hundred words. Koko herself could not speak, but gladly listened to human speech. Researchers at the gorilla foundation where Koko lived could spell the words candy and chewing gum, and Koko had no problem understanding them.
It is generally believed that only humans can understand human language, much less speak it. Gorillas cannot use the traditional way of communicating with humans with their lips and tongue, but they have many other methods of speech in their arsenal. Koko’s example showed people that gorillas can also be intelligent. No dumber than chimpanzees. And we should learn some things from them.