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Word: koko (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
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Usage:

Stuffed animals have a way of warming thehearts of those who receive them: set yourrecipient's heart ablaze by buying out Calliope's(33 Brattle Street) entire collection of oversizedanimals: Kodiak bear ($300), Koko gorilla ($385)and Mickey Mouse ($150). What could one getfor$1,000 at Calliope? "Koko and a half" was thereply from the store manager...

Author: By Patrick S. Chung, | Title: Gifts for One Thousand Dollars | 12/15/1993 | See Source »

...surprisingly, then, accounts of the first language experiments with apes in the 1970s produced one of the most fractious debates in the history of the behavioral sciences. Washoe the chimp and Koko the gorilla became famous for their linguistic feats using sign language, but scientists argued bitterly over the significance. Did the "speech" of these animals reflect a genuine ability to think symbolically and communicate thought, or was it largely the result of rote conditioning or of cuing -- a la Hans -- by trainers? Skepticism carried the day, and researchers who had dedicated their lives to working with the apes...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Can Animals Think? | 3/22/1993 | See Source »

...truth, Kanzi's achievements are no greater than those claimed for Koko or other subjects in early language studies. His real significance is that scientists are more willing to accept the results as valid because of the tight controls used during the studies. For instance, a one-way mirror prevented Kanzi and Alia from seeing who gave them commands, while those tracking what the ape and toddler did in response wore earphones to prevent them from hearing the requests. Each sentence was also utterly new to both ape and child. The young bonobo has thus helped break a two-decade...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Can Animals Think? | 3/22/1993 | See Source »

Unfortunately, it is impossible to know precisely what goes on in another creature's mind and to what degree it understands the languages it uses. Take the case of the gorilla Koko, first taught 20 years ago to use American Sign Language by psychologist Penny Patterson. On one much discussed occasion, the powerful gorilla had inadvertently knocked a sink off its moorings in her living quarters. Koko signed the words "Kate there bad," pointing to the sink. Was the muscular animal trying, rather implausibly, to shift the blame to one of Patterson's slightly built female assistants...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Can Animals Think? | 3/22/1993 | See Source »

...chimp moved on. Once the interloper was gone, the first chimp opened the box to claim the food. The second chimp, however, had cleverly hidden himself just out of sight and triumphantly returned to snatch the bananas. There are enough examples of such ape trickery to suggest that perhaps Koko really was lying when she made the signs "Kate there...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: Can Animals Think? | 3/22/1993 | See Source »

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