Koko - what gives?

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ismi

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So, in my intro to psych class, the topic of Koko the Amazing Signing Gorilla! came up. I seem to remember that there were a lot of flaws in the way the experiment was done - lack of repeatability, lack of external verification, confirmation bias, researchers who don't sign fluently, etc. Can anyone point me towards sources for this? Preferably from a Deaf point of view, and preferably relatively 'official' (or scholarly, even).
 
Hmm I remember Koko, and I did some research when i was younger.. but it's been a while.. and I don't remember much.

one website that tells more is Koko.org / The Gorilla Foundation

but what I remember most about Koko was her pet cat named All Ball. that was one cute cat. I think it passed away.
 
wikipedia

well wikipedia does have one article on koko that has a link to some comments on monkey sign language in a different article I would check their references to see if you can find any articles from the scientific community that has not had access to koko

metamantis
 
ismi said:
So, in my intro to psych class, the topic of Koko the Amazing Signing Gorilla! came up. I seem to remember that there were a lot of flaws in the way the experiment was done - lack of repeatability, lack of external verification, confirmation bias, researchers who don't sign fluently, etc. Can anyone point me towards sources for this? Preferably from a Deaf point of view, and preferably relatively 'official' (or scholarly, even).
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I've got a couple os scholarly sources that point out the inconsistencies and problems wit the Koko research as well as the Washoe research. One is the book, Seeing Voices by Oliver Saks. The other I can't remeber the title of offhand (it's Monday morning!) but will check my sources at home tonight and get back to you.
 
jillio said:
I've got a couple os scholarly sources that point out the inconsistencies and problems wit the Koko research as well as the Washoe research. One is the book, Seeing Voices by Oliver Saks. The other I can't remeber the title of offhand (it's Monday morning!) but will check my sources at home tonight and get back to you.
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Thanks, Jillio. I was hoping you might chime in at some point. One of our textbooks is by Saks (The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat), but I completely forgot that he had written Seeing Voices.
 
ismi said:
Thanks, Jillio. I was hoping you might chime in at some point. One of our textbooks is by Saks (The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat), but I completely forgot that he had written Seeing Voices.
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That's a great book as well. I admire his attitude that abnormal doesn't always need to be changed if it is functional! Unique attitude for a physican. I'll have the other title for you shortly, and will checked by archived journal articles as well for anything that might be helpful.
 
Hi, ismai! Got the title of that other book for you. Its "The Other Side of Silence." Couple of excellent chapters in there on primate signs.
 
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