(4 of 9)
In truth, Kanzi's achievements are no greater than those claimed for Koko or other subjects in early language studies. His real significance is that scientists are more willing to accept the results as valid because of the tight controls used during the studies. For instance, a one-way mirror prevented Kanzi and Alia from seeing who gave them commands, while those tracking what the ape and toddler did in response wore earphones to prevent them from hearing the requests. Each sentence was also utterly new to both ape and child. The young bonobo has thus helped break a two-decade deadlock during which language experimentation with animals was paralyzed by concerns that the animals were responding to cues from their trainers rather than demonstrating true abstract abilities.
The Knowledge of Dolphins
It is not terribly surprising that apes, humanity's closest relatives, might possess some measure of smarts. But is it possible that more distantly related species might also have some capacity for symbolic communication? Herman offers a partial answer through his work with dolphins, animals whose ancestors diverged from other mammals' more than 45 million years ago.
Communication between humans and dolphins at Kewalo Basin occurs mostly through a gestural language that borrows some words from American Sign Language. The trainers make the gestures with big, enthusiastic arm movements, asking Phoenix or Akeakamai to follow such commands as "person left Frisbee fetch," which means "bring the Frisbee on the left to the person in the pool," or "surfboard person fetch," in which Akeakamai gently pushes a human volunteer over to the surfboard.
Such requests probe the dolphin's understanding of word order in ways somewhat analogous to the work with Kanzi. Herman insists that the dolphin's grammatical competence is at least as sophisticated as Kanzi's. Herman's group has also determined that dolphins can form a generalized concept about an object: they respond correctly to commands involving a hoop, no matter whether the hoop is round, octagonal or square. They also seem to retain a mental image of an object whether or not it is present in their environment. Thus they can accurately report whether a ball or hoop is in the pool (by touching their snouts to YES and NO paddles placed in the water).
The dolphins have a better attitude toward their schooling than many children. When correct, they squeak excitedly as they race back to the trainer. When wrong, they sag noticeably and look about as depressed as it is possible for these benign creatures to look. Herman notes that they are not above resorting to tricks familiar to every student, such as rushing over to another object after choosing the wrong one, or positioning themselves at some ambiguous midpoint between two choices with the apparent hope that the trainer will say "Right!" On occasion, when wrong, they will take their chagrin out on the object and beat a hoop or basket as though it were at fault.
But Do the Animals Really Understand?