Reflection on Kanzi Project - Assignment Example

Kanzi is a very popular male bonobo or chimpanzee who has been extensively featured in myriad research studies done on linguistic aptitude in apes. Among many other researchers who have made contributions to demonstrating linguistic aptitude in apes, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh stands distinguished in the respect that she dedicated her whole life to studying Kanzi. The main argument put forth by Savage-Rumbaugh is that Kanzi’s advanced linguistic aptitude denounces all such ideas which are sceptical of the ape language project. Among many critics of the Kanzi project is Wynne who argues that advanced language aptitude is something that is possessed by humans alone and the decisive factor that differentiates humans from apes. The kind of linguistic abilities exhibited by Kanzi are only the result of his imitations, so the very idea of ape language synonyms with parroting. Savage-Rumbaugh, on the other hand, defends her argument in favour of Kanzi and ape language by claiming that the linguistic achievements of her subject, Kanzi, are living proof that apes can also learn a human language. This idea that language and many other unique cognitive abilities are uniquely possessed by humans is groundless and prejudiced. One important reason why Savage-Rumbaugh’s research on Kanzi cannot be equated to parroting is that Kanzi did not develop his linguistic capacities through rote learning or behaviourist methods. Rather, his learning began from a very young age when he was younger. This young age is a very critical period for learning language for both apes and human babies. Like human babies, Kanzi’s responses also reflect the same tendencies.