4.2　课后习题详解

1．Has any chimpanzees ever been taught to produce human speech sounds? What’s been the problem?

【答案】It’s unlikely. Viki produced versions of three English words, but it is not clear that she actually produced human speech sounds; the problem is that no other creature is physiologically equipped to produce human speech sounds.

2．In Sarah’s vocabulary, the color ‘red’ was represented by a grey plastic shape. If Sarah could use this plastic shape to convey the meaning ‘red’, which property does her language have?

【答案】Arbitrariness

3．What was the basis of Terrace’s conclusion that the chimpanzee’s use of sign language is not true language?

【答案】After careful examination of the filmed record, Terrace concluded that chimpanzees were performing tricks to get food rewards.

4．How did the Gardeners try to show that Washoe was not necessarily repeating signs made by interacting humans?

【答案】They designed an experiment in which no humans could provide cues and Washoe still produced correct signs.

5．What was the key element in Kanzi’s language learning?

【答案】Early exposure to language in use.