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Research claim that chimps learn other troupes’ language is not supported

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From ScienceDaily:

Chimpanzee language claims lost in translation, researchers conclude

Unbelievably, some researchers tried examining one these claims instead of just accepting it and pontificating about it.

The scholarship in question, published in the journal Current Biology in February, centered on the examination of two sets of chimpanzees in the Edinburgh Zoo: one that had been captive for several years in the facility and one that had recently arrived from the Beekse Bergen Safari Park in the Netherlands. Over a three-year period, the researchers claimed that the latter set had altered their sounds to those of the former set when communicating about a common object, apples, resulting in what they saw as a newly shared vocalization.

But a review of the Current Biology study by researchers at the German Primate Center in Göttingen, the University of Kent, and New York University, suggests these conclusions are off-base.

“There are a number of problems with the original study,” observes James Higham, an assistant professor in NYU’s Department of Anthropology and a co-author of the new analysis, which also appears in Current Biology. “Some of these relate to the methods used while others are fundamentally a misrepresentation of what the data actually show.”

More.

What? It matters? Maybe one day, they’ll be doing science again, instead of PR for naturalism.

Meanwhile,

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the original study tells us much new about the evolution of language,” notes Fischer, a professor of cognitive ethology. More.

Not to worry, prof. You’re way ahead if you’ve decided to go beyond the makings of a pop science article.

Human language is bound up with human consciousness. The evolution of human language cannot be considered apart from it. The problem for the chimp or the kitty cat is not the technicalities; it’s what they don’t have to say.

See also: Can we talk? Language as the business end of consciousness

See also: The tale of Nim Chimpsky

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Comments
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that the original study tells us much new about the evolution of language,”.
Perhaps language is a design feature of the human soul. In that case, the scientific study suggests that chimps don't have human souls. This would be a helpful discovery.awstar
November 4, 2015
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Right, Creatures have nothing to say because they are dumb. Peoples language is a reflection of our intelligent thoughts. so much to say and the tongue/sounds are not fast enough. Human language could not evolve without first intelligence being very real. The grunts to grammer hypothesis fails ass it sees humans lanfuage evolving with increasing grunt complexity. Naw. What would a half smart primate man say with a half smart language. Its fine with me if creatures copy others sounds for mutual understanding. No big deal. Animals sounds are what we do. We do it so much better.Robert Byers
November 3, 2015
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