Apes, Language, and the Human Mind by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh

Apes, Language, and the Human Mind by Sue Savage-Rumbaugh

Current primate research has yielded stunning results that not only threaten our underlying assumptions about the cognitive and communicative abilities of nonhuman primates, but also bring into question what it means to be human. At the forefront of this research, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh recently has achieved a scientific breakthrough of impressive proportions. Her work with Kanzi, a laboratory-reared bonobo, has led to Kanzi's acquisition of linguistic and cognitive skills similar to those of a two and a half year-old human child. Apes, Language, and the Human Mind skillfully combines a fascinating narrative of the Kanzi research with incisive critical analysis of the research's broader linguistic, psychological, and anthropological implications. The first part of the book provides a detailed, personal account of Kanzi's infancy, youth, and upbringing, while the second part addresses the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological issues raised by the Kanzi research. The authors discuss the challenge to the foundations of modern cognitive science presented by the Kanzi research; the methods by which we represent and evaluate the abilities of both primates and humans; and the implications which ape language research has for the study of the evolution of human language. Sure to be controversial, this exciting new volume offers a radical revision of the sciences of language and mind, and will be important reading for all those working in the fields of primatology, anthropology, linguistics, philosophy of mind, and cognitive and developmental psychology.

Dr. Stuart Shanker is the founder of The MEHRIT Centre and Scientific Director of the Self-Regulation Institute, as well as a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Psychology at York University. He served as president of the Council on Early Childhood Development and the Council on Human Development. Dr. Shanker received his B.A., B.Sc., and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford, respectively. D. and Phil

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780195147124
ISBN 10	019514712X
Title	Apes, Language, and the Human Mind
Author	Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2001-09-27
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.